VICE-PRESIDENT Guy Scott has said the Patriotic Front (PF) government will not re-introduce the windfall tax to save the economy from collapsing and urged Zambians to seek relief in the US$200 million royalty tax that has been gained from mining companies.
Dr Scott, who was reacting to statements by some trade unions and stakeholders that the PF cheated people using the windfall tax said the government had managed to remove US$200million from the mining companies and transferred it to the workers in form of Pay-as-You-Earn(PAYE).
Dr Scott explained that whether the money drawn from the mining companies would be referred to as windfall tax or mineral royalty, the fact remains that the Zambian government had gained a huge amount of money and relieved workers from paying high taxes.
He said the new PAYE in the 2012 national budget was the start of better things to come while the taxation system was still under review. The vice president said the US$200 million gained from the increased mineral royalty tax had been imposed on the mining companies to close the gap created by the reduction in thresholds on PAYE and seeks to earn ordinary Zambian workers an average of K1 million on their take-home-pay.
In an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Dr Scott said the increased mineral royalty tax had not reflected in the 2012 national budget because the amount had been captured by the mineral royalty tax. The vice president said the mineral royalty tax was the best form of tax because it stops mining companies from cheating government in terms of how much they were making.
Dr Scott said the government had not stopped managing the tax system to ensure that it benefits the Zambian people. He said the tax was determined by the volumes of copper they had sold internationally and that systems had been out in place to ensure that Zambians benefit from the system.
[pullquote] Union president Mundia Sikufele said in Kitwe yesterday that the union felt betrayed because the windfall tax was one of the major items the PF used during the campaign.[/pullquote]
“What matters is how much the mining companies will contribute to the national budget whether it is called windfall tax or mineral royalties. Our aim was to save at least US$200 million so that it goes to the workers in form of tax relief,” Dr Scott said. The vice president said the government had succeeded in removing US$200 million from the mines to transfer it to the workers as the PF administration moves to meet its campaign promises.
The new budget has provided for the tax free bands that start from a minimum of K2 million that will fall out of the tax bracket which means that the workers earning that amount would not be subjected to PAYE.
But National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) has questioned the Government for what it called back peddling on the re-introduction of the windfall tax. Union president Mundia Sikufele said in Kitwe yesterday that the union felt betrayed because the windfall tax was one of the major items the PF used during the campaign.
And Chamber of Mines general manager Fred Bantubonse said it was important that the Government realised that dialogue with stakeholders before the re-introduction of windfall tax was the way forward. HE Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (CSAWUZ) has also urged Government to pursue the introduction of windfall tax if Zambia was to move forward.
Meanwhile, the German Government is expected to send its director of Southern Africa for the Ministry of economic corporation and development Dr Ingolf Dietrich to Zambia for talks with the minister of Finance Alexander Chikwanda. The talks would establish entry points in the national budget which the German Government would fund the one per cent that had remained for donor partners. In an interview in Lusaka on Sunday, German Ambassador to Zambia Frank Meyke said the discussions will take place on November 29 and November 30 November, 2011.
Mr Meyke said the German government was impressed with the national budget because it gave workers greater relief on their take-home pay which would promote investments and saving.
[Times of Zambia]
whatever,miners are good at it.every man has a price,so it goes.
Hehehehe, Patriotic Front. Iam loving this! You idi.ots thought running a govt was easy hey? MMD told you that you wont chase the Chinese, you wont introduce Windfall Tax and certainly you wont put more money in pipo’s pockets. We await more comedy!!
Very good stance PF government. Your technical know how and knowledge is the reason why Zambians voted for you. Some people like this one who wrote ” Hehehehe” are very ignorant about royalty tax and its advantages over windfall tax. They are illiterates who have made this country to go backwards. They are frustrated individuals who soon will suffer from a political HIV virus and will never be cured. Can you imagine having such kind of brains in govt!
We are smiling, happy, amused because come April 2012 we have more money in our
pockets. Sata is a man of experience and action oriented. Zambia is destined for success under his rule.
There we are! Dont kubeba on the increase. Zambians are harvesting from PF lies and this is the only country where politicians talk to nationals over serious matters as if they tellinn kindergarden stories to their grandchildren. No wonder, the Lozis want to go it alone with their own territory. The truthful Zambian must be sick with these lies.
Thanks Mr VP..We know you are doing your best to put this country to where it belong.Thanks for your hard work.
I have a lot of faith in Guy Scott and I believe he is a rational head in this Government and fully understands the dynamics of FDI and this is a very strong definitive statement that investors look for.
Unlike the nonsense that was spewed by Bob Sichinga, who only has a certificate of attendance to some cheap sponsored ZCCM short course on economics. Sichinga needs to understand that even if Cabinet was still discussing the issue and even if he has his person opinion, he ought to keep it to himself and that government policy can never be seen to be wavering. It needs to be direct , definitive and leave no room for uncertainty to create the confidence needed in the market.
100% marks to the VEEP for taking leadership on this issue.
In other ways, FDI is indeed a fancy word saying rape Zambia by all costs!
Please do not attack someone’s profile if you know nothing about it!!!
The PF haz the confidence of the Zambian people and so they should be see to speak one language. Not long ago Commerce Minister Robert Sichinga waz saying government may introduce windfall tax after consultation.
(May introduce) what do u understand by this
To protect the foreign investors and not insist on windfall tax is absurd and quiet frankly laughable
I have said this and I will say this again, this country is being ruled by power-mongers and they chose policies that benefiting of them , to aid them win another 5 years if they can and abandon the government rich of their pockets and move on. It’s a trend, I hate sayng this but it is the truth, show me a man that is not full of creed, a liar, a corrupt when they know they will have no job in say 5 years let alone 10 years I would say you are liar
Yu can make a case to say all the presidents before Mr sata have failed this poor country, and yes including Kaunda they had their transgressions.
The country is a laughing stock
Thanks
Perhaps blame the voters who put them into power. they dont stage military coups, do they?
Same old shi.t jus a different day. I clearly hed the pf govt telling mmd to reintroduce windfall now they are fallin back on there word.its easy to judge someone when u are not the one wearing the crown.windfall tax as evry1 can see is a bad idea,because of its arbitrariness,business in africa cannot run on such a system because we are alwasys exporting,exporting has its costs as well.if the investor is not makin a sufficient return wats the point in remaining here.pipo will be fired because of windfall tax.be realistic pipo pliz
Mineral Royalty Tax is actually a better option. Infact most people parrot the Windfall Tax which they do not even understand!! Well done PF at least you have made the first step in the right direction.
MMD Chief Bootlicker you sound a very real patriotic Zambian, but can still do better by avoiding crude language and talking about the size of people’z real or imagined qualificationz.
Twale myeba mwaimwena mwebene!!!
Watching football from the terraces and playing it are too different things. Now, as mutati puts it, reality has dawned. We understand Mr President, wat else wont be implemented?
I think people have a short memory. The Windfall Tax has never been PF’s policy. Windfall tax was introduced by MMD under the leadership of Levy Mwanawasa during the first leg of the bull run in commodity prices and removed during the global credit crisis.
At the time it was introduced, PF opposed windfall tax and MR Sata is on record in 2007 of having led a protest that heckled the then Fin Minister Ngandu Magande over the introduction of windfall Tax. So PF is only being true to their DNA. No windfall tax it shall be. The MMD introduced it and realised it was a wrong move and removed it and let it stay removed .
+1 Vote for PF on this one.
MMD Defender of PF…it is hard to identify your new party (PF) with any stance whatsoever and you know it, Sata goes for anything and everything that suits him and his aspirations at that given time, therefore to say we have a short memory is wrong!
You are very much aware that on Windfall tax Sata was always on the opposite side of the MMD Gov’t. But the fact remains that his support grew especially on the copperbelt because people expected many of these 90 day promises including windfall tax (in as much you would like to remind us of a different stance he took in 2007, we want what we were promised)
Mr Bantubonse should do research to avoid alarming the nation unnecessarily. He and I are contemporary engineers who used slide rules for engineering calculations but with the onset of the computer the slide rule is obsolete. If he had invested a little bit of his time on the internet he would have found out that the mines are relieved that the dreaded windfall tax has not been re-introduced. The Financial Post, a Canadian Financial magazine, calls the mining tax hike not a disaster. According to their analyst, he has dropped his 2012 EITDA estimate by just 4% to reflect the change, which shows how minor it is. If the 2008 windfall tax was re-introduced it would have negatively affected First Quantum’s 2012 earnings by 20%.
Ukubeba ni donchi!
Chief bootlicker for the first time you have talked sense. This is want you give a credit where its due. I totally agree with you mr Scott on this one you got 100%
The National Union of Miners and Allied Workers (NUMAW) President Mr. Mundiya Sikufere’s comment that the PF government has betrayed us for not reintrodicing windfall tax is uncalled for becaues Dr. Scott has explained it all.
It is Mr. Mundiya himself who has betrayed NUMAW members for coming back to amass more wealth from the members after spending their hard earned money for his campaigns and concequently losing a paliamentery election on UPND ticket on 20/10/2011. Kindly, leave and let somebody else lead NUMAW, you have done your part Mr. Mundiya.
Those of us who have contributed alot on this subject and were called names have now been vindicated. The short end is that Windfall tax can not work under the current cost structure of the mining industry in Zambia. Alot of mines will have to close down. For example the break-even cost for KCM is US$6000/ton.
Whats Zambians need to understand is that mining contributes more than just taxes to the Zambian economy. Bob Sichinga worked for ZCCM when it was a parastatal and am afraid his understanding of how private mining companies operate is very limited. I was one of the who questioned his title “economic consultant” and was called names. Mineral economics, Mineral Tax is a complicated field and specialized area of economics.
In the land of the blind even a one eyed man can be king.
do u pipo even read these articles and understand before starting to comment?
This is really dissappointing to hear that the PF Govt has failed to negotiate Windfall Tax with the mining companies. While I can understand that these mines employ stealthy negotiators, Govt should have sourced sound economists to do their negotiations on their behalf. Can we have resounding reasoning why can now not tap on $800m a year. We need to get proper explanations. To my understanding windfall tax is really simple – You pay tax on profits that you never projected for in the lifespan of your business plan. When these companies started mining copper their business standing was based on earning $3000 per tonne of copper but now it is over $8000. This is no brainer really unless a few of our politicians have already been bribed to shy away. Please give us expalnations
There were no Bemba “sound economists” to advise PFooters. So they gave up on the Windfall Taxes.
Mr Meyke said the German government was impressed with the national budget because it gave workers greater relief on their take-home pay which would promote investments and saving.
He doesn’t understand Zambians. More money in their pockets means more booze and talk time.
Thought so to. LOL. He doesnt understand. Zambians dont save. Even apart from more booze, there are so many dependants and problems to spend on.
PF has screwed us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:x PF is on the right way, you confused chaps do disturb. This just year i budget, in the next budget, they will work on it. VIVA PF!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I always knew that Dr Scott will be the real President of a PF government that will do the real work while the other man will do the dirty work of hire and fire.
Windfall , rainfall , royalty taxes , It is not even properly explained. I am sure a lot of people here do not even understand it unlike #18 who seems to sound informed.
I wish the government would try ad educate the people on what actually the implication if not the pros and cons are of windfall tax !! What a Zoo
Can you educate us please then?
There’s politics for ya.
my grandmother is spinning in her grave. a muzungu as president? after everything these guy did to them muli welensiki?
And you fool is in Canada! your grandmother must be spinning like michael jackson seeing her grandchild living with white people.Aha. Yes, you can take a man from a village but not a village from a man. its 2011 for God sake!
May be your own politicians have done more harm since independence than the muzungus of colonial days. Your head in the sand?
Investors the world over don’t like encertainty especially if it comes courtesy of the whims of new political overlords.Predictability is the watchword for investors-that policies will change due to their expiration date(e,g tax holidays) and not because of a “casual government’ style of doing things.
Guys, $200 million is not K200million. The fact is that PF is smart as can be seen by this large amount of money which has been extracted from mining companies for your good. The daft MMD government allowed these same mining houses to get away with a cool $200million/yr. Multiply this by the 20 yrs MMD was in power and you have and you have a cool $4 Billion which should have been collected. That is enough money to have changed the entire outlook of Zambia. The fact is that with or without windfall tax, Zambia is far better now than before 20th September. I am so glad Zambians fired the MMD govt. Viva PF
You mean ZCCM should have paid $200m annualy as well till privatisation in 1999? Also big Lumwana mine did not exist before 2005.
I like the way you dance!!
Dude windfall tax in a simple example is telling the mines, that if you make 10% PROFIT, you keep it, anything above 10% will take 50% of it. Those are non-renewable resources. If you dont collect the money now, when will you do it?
No 20 The reality is thats Metorex is the lowest cost producer at around US$4000. The big mines KCM, Mopani will never make money at US$6000. Zambians need to learn to read. Go and get the financials of these companies and read. Most people are just emotional about Windfall tax with no facts. This is what Guy Scott has just released
Zambians, what is the difference between cash from windfall tax and cash from mineral royalty? It’s all cash. The problem is cash from mineral royalty is supposed to develop local areas like the copperbelt and NW province. In our case it goes to Lusaka thugs!!! Now that is the problem!!
Well spoken….
No. 5 MMD Chief Bootlicker, you have no moral right to opinionate about the PF government! You and your MMD messed up the country for over 20 year and PF is beginning to bring some sense of order to light. It is very difficult to abrogate the contracts that were agreed in the past by MMD. This would clearly be a case of breach of contract which would incur heavy penalties. Anyway, this government is a govt of laws not Sata alone! Our President is inclusive not exclusive to PF!
Ten of those years, one Michael Sata was one of the MMD top dogs.
Just like it is in Zimbabwe, ZANU-PF. This is MMD-PF. Lets face it, PF does not have the human capital to draft anything they have to get the framework from MMD. As we saw in the budget, they will continue with the MMD construction programmmes, Multi facility zones, Trident mine, Muliashi e.t.c as the only job creation measures. The economic objectives for 2012 are all copy and paste MMD for 2011. Even UNIP has joined the team. so what do you expect?
#18 The Engineer, you say that Windfall tax can not work under the current cost structure of the mining industry in Zambia. What do you mean when you say “current cost structure”? What is your time period of what you are referring to as “current cost structure” Because we had this thing— the Windfall Tax before under Mwanawasa and if my memory serves me right, no mine company in Zambia closed as a result of Windfall Tax. These are the same arguments and resistance that late Mwanawasa encountered over the Windfall Tax— but because he had a spine and was smart guy, he took on board various perspectives on the issue and came up with an appropriate Windfall Tax package, and NO mine company closed. What we need is bold and smart leadership, Windfall tax can still be reintroduced.
Wat they call the tax doesn’t matter!!!They can do away with Windfall Tax and get 2 increase Mineral Royalties Tax n any other Mining Tax that will bring more money into the govt coffers! Why should we mek noise about Windfall Tax wen Royalties Tax has bin increased by 100%? This is just step 1! Come next year, the 2013 budget will include an increase in another Mining related Tax!
Four more budgets. HH wanya
Oops !!Really Zambians should start reading.It seems most people don’t understand Windfall taxes.PF has increased 100% taxes on mines(From 3% to 6%) which is like windfall taxes.
The advantages of mineral royalties is that mine companies will continue paying for it whether they make profit or not.When it comes to windfall taxes the mine companies will only pay when they make profit.So people complaining should go and read before they start making noise.Furthermore,the budget was already prepared before PF coming into power.PF had one month to make some changes in the budget.Not only that,u can’t change everything at once.People expecting handouts from govt should t just work hard especially Bantustan people who just criticize always.We need to support PF for changing Zambia.Viva PF
First it was Barotse agreement and now windfall tax.. what is next?? Time yakubeba soon 90 days…))
Double screw … from PF to their thug clan …. we will chase the chinese!!! bla bal bla … we will re-introduce the windfall tax … bla bla bla … in 90 days u will have constitution bla bla bla …. yes zambia has a 10th province, a bemba cabinet, a bemba foreign service corp coming, a bemba family tree which includes ministers, top cops, etc….. bla bla bla
Are you tribalist?
We are discussing windfall tax. Speech by Guy Scott. Is he Bemba?
The bible says to the pure all things are pure.
ulikakopo iwe i think tawatalapasapo ku school.windfall Tax,you talk about something else.Akamutwe kwati ni pawpal.
how i wished people understood the meaning of windfall tax. let me explain a bit. it is a tax on super normal profit and govt wud tax 25% on the supernomal profit. now for zambia the trigger point is that if the price of copper per tonne goes beyond $5500 per tonne then you introduce windfall but in the current scenario where price of copper has been fluctuating between 6800 to 7500 it is gamble and in the worst case scenario where price of copper goes below 5500 the country gains nothing. and with the happening in the EU and a sluggish US economy, it is only china which has been buying in bulk and mind u there will be a time wen china may also be affected as their are strong indications that its growth has been contracting, so in the event that even china nose dive baba zambia will lose
This makes me wonder who the real President is. When it comes to issues of policy or giving direction it is Guy Scott who is in the fore-front. On the other hand when it comes to hire and fire, it is MCS the colonial super-cop. When it comes to dealing with foreign issues, it is Guy Scott and not Kambwili. Can someone tell us who is running the show or has MCS been sent to the school of diplomatic studies. Hmmmmm …
Team work, to their individaul strengths? Would we rather have Kambwili out there? Or Sata in Guys Scot’s shoes? It’s not too bad, at least saves us the embarrassment.
May be Sata is beinga good leader. Good leaders are those who know how to make the best of the people under them.
# 34 Yambezhi, The Engineer (Australia) has answered your question on # 30. It is true the price of processed copper has been on the rise since 2006, but the cost of mining has also gone up. Most of our mines have low grade copper (normally between 1.6 and 2% copper content in the mined ore). Mineral Royalty Tax is not an equitable tax, it is based on what is produced and does not regard the cost involved in production but it one sure way of getting something from the mines. Tax is a complicated issue and should not be based on the price the commodity is fetching on the international marked.
FOR NOW ITS OK, WE NEED TO DO ALOT OFCHANGES BUT NOT AT ONCE PLIZ GIVE SATA A BREAK…… AH AH AH
so a royalty tax is the best coz it looks at the production side. dont just go on internet and google and get the definition coz mind you its nt all mines which are enjoying the supernormal profits coz most mines are hiding in the name of making losses so a windfall cant do unless we had a very well established tax system in place. a royalty tax will apply whether a mine is making profit or nt. try to listen to economists proper nt chibamba kanyama or saasa coz these are nt economists thats y their level of unerstanding economic issues is shallow especially on the quantitative side
I voted for PF based on thieir commitment to impose windfall tax, now this. I know iam not the only one coned out of my vote.
I am a pf supporter
My party won elections
I was happy more money was guaranteed
I get k500pin working 6am- 6pm
The budget came, I was excited!
I am assured of more money in my pocket though I have to wait until may 2012
I am happy pamaka!
Very good stance PF government. Your technical know how and knowledge is the reason why Zambians voted for you. Some people like Mufana wamahafu who wrote ” Hehehehe” are very ignorant about royalty tax and its advantages over windfall tax. They are illiterates who have made this country to go backwards. They are frustrated individuals who soon will suffer from a political HIV virus and will never be cured.
We are smiling, happy,amused because come April 2012 we have more money in our pockets. Sata is experienced and action oriented. Zambia is headed for success under his rule.
Chief bootlicker talks sense to me. He analyses issues and gives credit where its due. Lets give him an A+ clap that he deserves. Unlike some chaps who just insult for the sake of insulting. Its true when you watch the game from the terraces you spot a lot of mistakes that you think you can sort out like magic. Windfall tax was just forced on PF by some useless blogers here and my memory is still fresh. I end here!
We can only rest this argument if Chanda Chimba can dig the archives of ZNBC,then we can see who said what and what not.This torelence of playing down cheaters and liars of all colours will not help us.Lets call a spade a spade,the issue of windfall tax SATA lied.
The backtrack of PF govt. over the windfall tax comes with little surprise to us who know how PF govt was conceived and birthed. Dr Guy Scott should be laughing and dreading everytime he goes to bed. How he manages it lies in him being a politian. Sata PF objected agressively to the tax regime proposed by MMD. He made political capital out of it. Blind followers were behind him and because he was partialy blind,he is now king over all the blind. Thanks to Guy Scott with insight of MMD tax proposals he now backs in the PF gvt. I have said it before and true to what was said PF govt has no road map plan for development in Zambia. PF membership came from MMD with all the ideas they opposed will now and are already being implemented.
The various union members in the country are not the only ones having been betrayed by Sata PF govt. but the whole nation has been duped to believe that Sata PF was the saviour of our nation. Granted he has made numerous press statements on corruption which we support and EVERYONE proved in the courts to be corrupt needs to be punished. However, thats just part of governance, the bigger picture is how the macro mamangement of national affairs are resonating out with the effectiveness of justice. So far that needs to be seen. Dr Guy Scott is defacto leader of PF govt.
#49 Muna “Dr Guy Scott is defacto leader of PF govt”.
If we removed the “offending” skin colour, there’s no one who would complain thet Dr Guy Scott is defacto leader of PF govt.
No benefit in having our own kindred if all they do is line their own pockets. In short, Zambia is better off with good and progressive performance than “tribalism”. If Guys Scot is doing good job, credit to Sata for delegating it to him.
what is windfall tax anyway..someone clever …i dont want chancers…
Its tax on a windfall gain .. profit you didnt expect in your business plans. Doesn’t happen every day.
As for Sata and PF going back on campaign promises, well, politicians will say anything to get into power! We should vote wisely and also have a way of making them accountable.
In the UK, the Lib Dems promised they will not increase university fees. When in power, the coalition govt did just that. People, especially students, made them pay with a heavy defeat in the next elections (council elections I think).
MWEBANTU BAKWALESA KANSHI WHAT IS WINDFALL TAX? CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN IN A VERY VERY SIMPLE LANGUAGE. AM WAITING PLEEAASSEE…
We told you running a government is not easy. I await to se more drama. Its already getting clear things will never get better. They are bound to be even worse.
MAMAKANKASA
I give it a try:
By its name, windfall tax is tax that you get when the wind falls. So when ever leaves rise, meaning that the the wind has fallen, there is a hammer-roll-call for tax against the mine owners.
The miners must certainly watch out for August when the wind falls the most.
You have made my day…..
I do not remember what Sata himself said during the campaign, but the quotation below is from an edition of ‘Mmegionline’ reported on the 7th Sept. 2011
“UPND presidential candidate Hikainde Hichilema, a University of Zambia-trained economist, says that Zambia is losing millions of dollars as a result of the scrapped windfall tax. And PF economic advisor Bob Sichinga told Muvi Television, a privately-owned TV station, that his party would re-introduce windfall tax on minerals if it was elected into power in the September 20 Presidential, parliamentary and Local Government elections”
#s 53 and 55 Windfall tax is a tax on “supernormal profits”. The Kaunda govt introduced it on the banking industry where they said so much was at 35% and the next so much at 40%. The banks were perceived to be making more than the normal profit hence the extra tax that was introduced to help govt redistribute resources fairly. The PF govt has since abolished this, there is nothing wrong with it but is wrong is to base it price instead of profit.
You don’t know what you are talking about. Why not remain quite? PF did not abolish it, It is the MMD, the PF are just being asked to reconsider bringing it back
How can you have normal profit and abnormal profit?
They talk about government retention (yes in the form of tax) on the monies that they already have been taxed off. The way I see it why should you be penalised for being good at what you are as an individual
There is no guarantee this income, in this form of tax will be used for anything other than enriching themselves.
If you work hard you should have to pay more taxes. As it is the ZRA, PAYE, grants they get is enough and they should learn to use that money efficiently.
Tayeka,
please bako serious kanshi tulibengi ababwelelepo fye pali windfall tax .
Tayeka you are just joking with me, anyway I will research pa internet, stay blessed, chaoo
All those not happy with this government should wait until the form theirs after 2031
Kalusa, OK now I understand tax levied on the supernormal or abnormal profits, right. Thank you so much
Jeeezy these *****s cheated me!
Kalusa? You don’t know what you are talking about. Why not remain quite? PF did not abolish it, It is the MMD, the PF are just being asked to reconsider bringing it back
How can you have normal profit and abnormal profit?
They talk about government retention (yes in the form of tax) on the monies that they already have been taxed off. The way I see it why should you be penalised for being good at what you are as an individual
There is no guarantee this income, in this form of tax will be used for anything other than enriching themselves.
If you work hard you should have to pay more taxes. As it is the ZRA, PAYE, grants they get is enough and they should learn to use that money efficiently. .
You don’t become rich by earning millions, you become a millionaire by earning ….first looking at what you already have. I don’t agree it should be introduced, of course it will wave off investors, It will punish the successful companies and It will make the corrupt more rich
My fiancé and I earns in excess of £100 000 between us and we pay 50% tax certainly his which is more than £50,000 and I refuse to budge or give money to people who punish people who are successful . I worked hard , I got my qualification and I am one hardworking woman, I should not be punished
Pathetic government, I really hate Zambian men who are advocating for this. Retards
Thanks
Iwe Foreign Mine Owners are Conglomerates whereas you and your jock boyfriend are just individuals, you are the retard here!!
What Does Windfall Tax Mean?
A tax levied by governments against certain industries when economic conditions allow those industries to experience above-average profits. Windfall taxes are primarily levied on the companies in the targeted industry that have benefited the most from the economic windfall, most often commodity-based businesses.
So are the investors making above- average profits or what. Let us debate with good understanding of issue than just yapping like monkeys excited of bananas in livingstone town at the vic falls ok.
Mushota we must have been born on the same lucky day, those figures you mention are well within our earnings too (that is my girlfriend and I), not to mention the 500ha, river front splashy lodge we run along an unnamed river. Oh goodness, a black impala of a rare species just galloped right over my head as I sprawl at our private swimming pool.
‘FIGHTING’ Corruption ?? SATA Appoints SIMON MITI As Some MMD Cadres Get JOBS
PRESIDENT Michael Sata has appointed former Ministry of Health permanent secretary Dr Simon Miti as Zambia’s Ambassador to Switzerland, according to well-placed sources.
He is making a lot of a serious and embarrassing mistakes resulting from carelessness
Its all easy. but the problem (and typically) in PF is lack of knowledge. All you need as a GOVT is to Hire mine taxation Experts to fully determine the break even cost per tonne as relates to Zambia. Then determine the normal profit say 30% and anything in excess should trigger a windfall tax. In order not to excessively tax short term gains on sudden surges in the market, brainy people can easily be tasked to design a leveling mechanism that ensures operational sustainability for the Players in the market. The danger with not getting the Windfall tax now is that there will never be another opportunity. But we will have gaping holes in our neighborhoods.
Maybe you should put your name forward to advice the Govt. The sooner you stop sitting on the fence and yap the quicker Zambia will develop.
mushota dont hate zambian men for this but feel sorry for them because they lack the expertise to understand the subject,they are just happy to see their user names appearing on LT than the value of thie input.but we are all learning.but why do you always boost of your acheivements,does it mean you really come from GEORGE COMPOUND ,were their are few role models ,so for you to have reach scotland was like a dream.some of the blogers here ARE DRS,SURGEONS who earn more than a million dollar annaully but we dont even mention it.grow up.
react to my posting ba upnd dull chaps
For the first time am proud of Mushota’s contribution to the topic. Its not typical of you to analyse things as intelligently as the way you have done. Keep it up. I personally dont know much about accounts/economics as this is not my field. Therefore, we will rely on your expertise to educate us, on what it is and the effects it will have on all of us as Zambians. But please try to explain things in simple terms so that the masses can understand you accountants.
What we need is money from the mines so that as a country we benefit from our resources and the miens oay a fair share of their taxes.Whether one calls this windfall tax or mine royalty is immatwerial.
Your Honour, the Vice President, you have our confidence and just help sort out some discomforting issues in some appointments!!!!
if mr. scott says windfall tax money is the same as mineral royalts’, is mineral royalt tax not going to suffocate the economy? if not, then a difference exists. learn to say the truth, we knew that you were playing games over the windfall tax. good for you got what you wanted, that is the price for having illitrates in the majority.
We need thank God that a man like Guy Scot is in government. The PF seems to lack politicians who can come out clean and tell the facts as betraying as they may seem. That said, a lot of faith has been lost with the nepotistic appointments being made everyday!
The problem we have in Zambia is our politicians, most of the time acquire advise from the companies that are supposedly benefactors, when New Labour Party of Tony Blair came into power in 1997 they imposed a windfall levy on recently privatised utilities companies. The government managed to raise £5billion one-off revenue which was used for the NEW Deal program to relieve unemployment…no company packed up.Its mere scaremongering assuming that the Mine owners will pack & go.The only issue here is we will actually see how much these chaps profit from our shear ignorance at the end of the financial year. A new generation of scavvy negotiators in urgently needed, you have to know the mindset of these Westerns if you are to deal with them & politicians be it MMD, PF, HH lack that acumen.
His Honour The VP is right! Let’s not just criticize the government of the day just for fun. As a Party in government, PF I believe have the interest of the country at heart. Supposing they had said they will introduce windfall tax when they were in opposition but have now realized it won’t work, is it wrong for them to abandon their earlier stated position? Not at all!!!! Those wishing PF to make mistakes all the time must remember that the loser in all this will not be PF but Zambia. I not a PF member but when they do something right, they will get all my support as a patriotic Zambian.
How do you figure its wrong to introduce windfall tax?
The problem we have in Zambia is our politicians, most of the time acquire advice from the companies that are supposedly benefactors, when New Labour Party of Tony Blair came into power in 1997 they imposed a windfall levy on recently privatised utilities companies. The government managed to raise £5 billion one-off revenue which was used for the NEW Deal program to relieve unemployment…no company packed up.Its mere scaremongering assuming that the Mine owners will pack & go.The only issue here is we will actually see how much these chaps profit from our sheer ignorance at the end of the financial year. A new generation of scavvy negotiators is urgently needed, you have to know the mindset of these Westerns if you are to deal with them & politicians be it MMD, PF, HH lack that acumen.
The only things Sata is doing these days is saturating Bembas in all positions and breaking every election promise he made. This presidency is going to be a very turbulent one, I can foresee a lot of problems creeping up to Zondwe sooner than later and given the precarious state of his heart, is it not another state funeral we have in making here! One does not need to be a sangoma to realise that Sata’s tribal bigotry and election promise u-turns will burry him 6 feet underground.
This one greeting Scott, look at “akalukobo”, he looks like Verno Johnson Mwaansa Njangwamuloti!
Rational analysis. Canada and USA produce copper and sell at the same price as our Zambian Mines. Lowest paid worker gets about for argument whys and wherefores $2,000 (ZK 9,800,000), which not even a B.Eng or B.Sc . Graduate employed by the mines is getting. My common sense tells me that, what the government is saying does not make sense at all.
#81 Spot on!!We will forever be getting the short-end of the smelly stick, these mine owners have probably the lowest cost of production, no Corporate social responsibility, cheapest labour in Zambia compared to Brazil, Venezuela & Australia. Just go & visit at their websites & do the math…in Zambia when these politicians see this symbol $ & Zeros (000,000s) they start salivating uncontrollably like rabid dogs unknown to them that they are getting utter peanuts and floor litter and when they convert to kwacha..oh my god…they literally wet their pants.These ministers should stop converting to kwacha as Copper is sold in Euros, Dollars & Sterling not at Soweto market… no wonder these shrewd miners don’t want them to be concerned with their profits as there are too many $$.WAKE UP!
The other thing the PF government should have looked at is the issue of the so called expatriates paying tax. Sometime back, the mines used to pay tax on behalf of these guys and they ended up paying nothing. For example, the lowest paid expatriate would get something like $6500 and get the whole amount without any tax deductions. We should have a situation were Zambians doing the same work get paid the same amount of money. The situation was such that Zambian General Managers got much less than the lowest paid expatriate.
So only GS makes sense in PF? Just wondering. He once called someone equivalent to a Bauleni ward chairman. That was way back. Could have been right you know.
The biggest problem in sites like this is that every tom and jerry can comment with or without knowledge of the subject. Which one is better people between window taxation and more employment? May be you never knew, China has emerged one of the biggest economies coz of its policies. They have attracted more investment because of its taxations that are not biting for investors. Remember that profit is not calculated just one expenditure out put basis, it also includes capital. Just work hard men and be innovative. Looking at the diminishing resources like copper is a sheer wast of time. Lets talk about others ways of increasing our DGP. Most of us think its just sitting down and write what ever one wants no people.
Scott for presido in 5 years time
Ba PF baisa ne michila mumolu nababinda! We told you folks these were liars day and night! Now enjoy the ride! Lubinda said FOI will be enacted within 90 days and now he is talking 6 months time!! flip floppers!!
Foolish Zambians we are too gullible, we always reject leaders that tell the truth and sincere but we love liars and sweet talkers! Please God punish us for our short sightedness!! God help us!!
Guy Scott – it is time for you to retire from active politics.
There is NO WAY the Zambian people can continue to be robbed, by not receiving $1.3 BILLION, PER YEAR, from the mining sector. If we get $200 million in royalties, we are still LOSING out $1.1 BILLION A YEAR.
Saying that $200 million is ‘enough’, or claiming that taxing WORKERS INCOME TAX equates to taxing the mines is the DUMBEST, STUPIDEST CONCEIT IMAGINEABLE.
Does this guy think we are stupid?
Guy Scott, you are in office to extract $1.3 billion a year from the mining sector. Everything else is extra. That is your task.
Now do it, or step aside!
ZAMBIA NEEDS IT’S OWN OCCUPY MOVEMENT :
OCCUPY FIRST QUANTUM
OCCUPY KONGOLA COPPER MINE
I have a strong feeling the U-Turn that is well articulated by VEEP may have been motivated by Chibamba Kanyama’s appearance on QFm where he analysied the challenges associated with the windfall taxes. Callers heckled the PF government for backpeddling but I hold the view Govt found some solace from one of their critics. ..
The problem on LT is that the shills and cadres of the MMD, are really shills and cadres of the foreign mining companies and indirectly, their banker bond- and shareholders – Rothschild and Rockefeller.
That is why they don’t want to see the mines leave a single Kwacha on the table and take it all.
I wonder if this PF change of heart has anything to do with the change of the guard at Anglo-America De Beers. Anglo-American (Rothschild) has just squeezed out the iconic Oppenheimer family from the business, which they were in for most of the 20th century.
(Google: Carats to Carrots: De Beers no longer jewel in crown )
Maybe they’re afraid that they’ll end up like Muammar Ghadaffi, or Patrice Lumumba? Well that is what sacrifice is all about.
85 ck,
You’ve had a decade to see trickle down economics work. It is not working, even with the biggest rise in copper prices in memory. It will not work.
Before you start crediting the rise of China with ‘taxes not biting investors’, which is an absurd analysis, I suggest you study the real economic history of the People’s Republic Of China.
You may find out, that by far, most corporations in China are state owned. You will find out, that the Chinese have been accumulating US dollars and treasury bonds, because they have no foreign businesses operating in their basic industries, and do not allow them to expatriate profits at will.
So please don’t insult my intelligence before you have read Ha-Joon Chang’s works on the lies of neoliberal economics.
@90The problem with Zambians is that they seem to assume that the foreign investors are doing them a massive favour, just too short-sighted to realise that minerals are not a sustainable resource like Hydroelectric energy…these minerals are not yours but they are your great grand children’s.Minerals are a diminishing natural resource, once your investor are finished digging them up what you are left with is an open pit.You come to Europe and try to mine (if ever the was something to mine), lets see how far it will get you; they will think you are barking mad to even suggest paying them royalties for their natural resources to the extent that they will laugh out of the room.
Its just utterly disgusting that people are not clued up yet after 20 years of free plunder under MMD!!
oh interesting8-|
I didn’t hear a lot of PF campaigns but to me it seems a lot of things they criticized the MMD on, they are now implementing. #13 Chief Bootlicker, your argument there is quite different from your normal ways of attacking PF. Things change ai. Matero University lol….not today bakamba.
Compare wiyh other countries friends.
I mean with other countries on taxation and cost of doing business.
What is this windfall tax? Forgive me am not an economist, is it a tax on the mines when the wind comes in July in Zambia or what? Some of you are talking about it when you don’t even understand it. Let’s go back to the basics. Someone define the windfall tax before we proceed.
Getting elected under false pretence! PAYE has only given workers K378,250=00 per month Dr. Scott is misleading his PF Blind kaponya followers!! Also PF forgets that the majority of their supporters are not in formal employment & won’t get this K378,250=00
What Does Windfall Tax Mean? A tax levied by governments against certain industries when economic conditions allow those industries to experience above-average profits. Windfall taxes are primarily levied on the companies in the targeted industry that have benefited the most from the economic windfall, most often commodity-based businesses. Thus, Windfall tax can benefit Zambia only in times when there is excess profit. As at now, loyalty tax is the only way to go.
Well, regarding the promise we have the right to be angry, but if we consider the implications of it we shall realise that it is the only way to go coz copper prices arent stable amidst world economic problems
Why call it windfall tax and not sunshine tax. I refuse this form of discrimination
Iam not sure whether am dreaming or awake. SO IN SHORT;
NO WINDFALL TAX, NO CONSTITUTION WITHIN 90 DAYS, NO FREEDOM BILL WITHIN 90 DAYS, ; NO GOVT 35% in MINING FIRMS, NO BAROTSE, NO LOWER TAX THAT 35%, PAYE, SO WHAT DID PEOPLE VOTE FOR, ARRESTING MMD MEMBERS?
Just arresting the MMD would be good enough.
However, there is no cause for the MMD to start celebrating. They have no philosophy that anyone can reasonably vote for.
Also, don’t confuse the fact that I will chase the PF to the gates of hell to get the Windfall Tax back, with the idea that we’re ready for the return of the MMD. They are still the corrupt sellouts they were before the elections.
At least the PF has potential. Now let’s realise that potential and get the state all the money they need to invest in the country without strings attached or going into debt.
A windfall tax is a tax that goes into effect when international market prices make unprecedented highs, like copper prices since 2004. It means the mines make less profit, and doesn’t affect their costs.
Dont kudabwa about this great u-turn…read his lips when he was Minister-Without-Portfolio…
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