Minister of Finance and National Planning Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane has said successful combating of illicit financial flows will generate positive impacts for the good governance of the country, economic growth and poverty reduction.
Giving a statement on the report of the parliamentary planning and budgeting committee on the effects of illicit financial flows on the budget and its sustainability, Dr. Musokotwane said Zambia is not spared from the scourge of illicit financial flows
He told Parliament that any form of illicit financial flows such as, through tax evasion or abusive tax avoidance leads to a haemorrhage of vital resources for the government which consequently undermines national development efforts.
Dr. Musokotwane said it is imperative for Zambia to continue cooperating with other jurisdictions to combat financial crimes.
“Madam Speaker, let me take this opportunity to thank the Planning and Budgeting Committee for the important report tabled on illicit financial flows.Madam Speaker, as a player in global affairs, Zambia is obviously not spared from the repulsive scourge of illicit financial flows. Any form of illicit financial flows from our country, such as, through tax evasion or abusive tax avoidance leads to a haemorrhage of vital resources for the government which consequently undermines our development efforts.Madam Speaker, successfully combating illicit financial flows will generate positive impacts for the good governance of our country, economic growth and poverty reduction,” he said.
Dr. Musokotwane highlighted some of the Strategies the Government has instituted, through Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), to fight tax evasion and financial crimes.
“Given the transnational nature of illicit financial flows it is imperative for Zambia to continue cooperating with other jurisdictions to combat financial crimes. Therefore, the importance of advancing international tax cooperation and tackling illicit financial flows to safeguard and mobilize domestic resources to bridge the financing gap in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals will remain crucial in our developmental efforts.Let me highlight some of the Strategies the Government has instituted, through Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), to fight tax evasion and financial crimes,” he said.
Dr. Musokotwane continued:”Zambia Revenue Authority has set up a dedicated investigations unit that targets countering tax evasion practices and prosecuting such offences and a number of persecution cases have been recorded. The Authority has further set up the Enforcement unit whose mandate is partly executing anti-smuggling initiatives.Since 2012 ZRA has been building capacity for transfer pricing audits, to this effect a number of officers were identified who have been trained over the years to increase their knowledge in transfer pricing. The officers have attended transfer pricing training in countries like Malaysia, Netherlands, France, South Africa, Norway, South Korea etc.”
In 2016 ZRA established the transfer pricing unit which is expected to conduct specialised audits that can detect transfer pricing practices among multinational companies.
“The ZRA has also partnered with collaborating partners over the past few years such as the OECD, UN, ATAF, IBFD to offer training to the officers on dealing with multinationals and international taxation in general which covers transfer pricing.The Zambia Revenue Authority has set up a functional forensic lab with the help of government and other cooperating partners that will help auditors and investigators uncover hidden financial transactions and trace illicit financial flows,” Dr. Musokotwane said.
“This will help the Authority monitor suspicious transactions and potentially tax proceeds from the informal sector. The requirement will also shine a light on businesses/ persons that shy away from declaring their source of income. It is expected that with the roll out of the transaction monitoring devises in 2018, tax evasion and illicit financial transactions can be monitored and controlled. We have embraced the “whole of Government” approach to combat money laundering and other financial crimes, as we recognise that knowledge and skills required to effectively fight against these offences are often spread across different bodies, such as tax administrations, FIUs, specialized criminal law enforcement authorities, financial regulators and the public prosecutor’s office,” the Minister of Finance concluded.
Please start with the exchange rate and tell us who and how is it being manipulated? The rate is clearly being determined by individuals as it shows continued upward trends without any major down ward trends then when it goes down it behaves the same way up to a certain point.
No one is manipulating the exchange rate. The exchange rate just like the cost of food, power, farming inputs are a reflection of how this government has failed to handle issues. If we do not have controls on mining and can not manage agriculture/industries we will forever be beggars to the western world and forever be poor. But HH will still continue boasting and never explain how he got rich in a very difficult time of his graphs.
Ctn… Please don’t take us for fo.ols there is no currency graph in the world which behaves in this manner where there are no flactuations unless it is being manipulated. Comesa summit is taking place and these delegates have brought millions of USDs to change into local currency and yet the Kwacha is back at K21 from K18 last month??? How is this possible unless people are manipulating it at the exchange rate level and not allowing the free market to decide?
Ctn…
Transparency International please take this up. A few people are doing the equivalent of insider trading by going short or long on the Kwacha/ Forex rate by having access to insider information I suspect from people in BOZ and Min of Finance, these are the people letting down the govt and causing economic turmoil. Imagin those who bought govt securities and have fixed deposit accounts what will happen to their savings when the value of the Kwacha errodes like this?This is why we failed to sale of govt securities just this last auction no confidence in the Kwacha.
Due to the poor governance and failures affecting our country caused by the inc0mpetent upnd g0vt, I have decided to pr0test. From last week, I am taking part in a self imp0sed semen retenti0n protest for a m0nth. This means I will in no way ejacuIate for a month in protest. I urge those who love our country to j0in in and support this pr0test. To th0se who continue to supp0rt the upnd, I ask you to mention one c0mm0dity that has gone down in price since upnd took over. Failing which you close your dirty m0uth To those who supp0rt my pr0test I ask that you d0wnv0te this comment. If you don’t supp0rt my pr0test then please upv0te this comment. Zlk0m0
Those illicit financial flows allowed PF losers to own those controversial 42 houses and Lungu to get a mansion in Eswatini.
UPND has woefully failed to reign in plundered resources. HH has disappointed us with hus weak, corrupt and incompetent ACC. Where shall we find another Mwanawasa who fought corruption and brought to book corrupt elements in our midst.
The only illicit financial flow that you need to address is HH giving tax holidays to his friends.
K75M has disappeared, so which illegal financial flows are talking about if you can’t explain how that money was handled?
Where is Faith Musonda’s money. Are the mines paying taxes? Is Kawana occupying a legal government office? How much is the cost of food as promised by Ichilema?
Tinasanka tabwelela na kunyumba. Manje, tinabwelako cabe… kulibe vimene tinacita.