Teachers illegally taxed for taking incentives from parents

According to government  sources teachers who are getting incentives from parents had presumptive tax deducted from their salaries this month

Sources told the Herald that only incentives from the Public Service Commission were tax-free.

Teachers' unions said Zimbabwe Revenue Authority officials argued that incentives were double pay and had to be taxed.

The educators say Zimra officials were working with the Salary Services Bureau to deduct the money.

Zimra officials are reportedly working with headmasters who recommend names of teachers receiving the incentives.

Zimra spokesperson Mr Canisio Mudzimu did not respond to questions sent to him yesterday, while Zimra Commissioner General Mr Gershem Pasi's phone went unanswered.

According to the Public Service Act, if a Government worker gets a supplementary salary, that person should declare the money for taxation.

Presumptive tax is an amount levied on an organisation or an individual's profit at a prescribed percentage.

In a telephone interview from France where he is attending a Unesco General Assembly yesterday, Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart confirmed receiving complaints from teachers.

He said the teachers were not double contracted because incentives were not salaries.

"The matter has been brought to me before, but from a legal point of view, what they (Zimra) are doing is illegal," he said.

"An incentive is not a salary but a token of appreciation by parents, which is not taxable. This could be a racket that senior officials at Zimra might not be aware of and I am going to raise the matter with them."

Deputy Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Lazarus Dokora yesterday said Zimra mooted the plan to tax teachers last year.

He said Zimra's argument was that the tax threshhold for teachers receiving incentives differed from those not receiving extra payments.

"We are aware that Zimra has been trying to tax teachers. They attempted it in schools in the northern region (Harare) and Mutare last year.

"These are some of the implications we warned of during meetings over incentives. If the incentives were effected by the PSC, they would be tax-free," he said.

Teachers unions said their members in Masvingo, Midlands and Matabeleland provinces were the ones worst affected by the tax deductions.

Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Mr Takavafira Zhou yesterday said they had received numerous reports from their members over the matter.

"The teachers are told they flouted the law for the past year and it constitutes a criminal case," he said.

"A good example is that of Victoria Primary School in Masvingo, where the headmaster refused to release the names (of teachers getting incentives). The officials are moving around basing on the Public Service regulations but it is not fair because to us an incentive is only an honorarium," he said.

Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe chief executive Mr Manuel Nyawo said it was "cruel to tax incentives".

"Our members are already suffering and parents are giving these small gifts and that is what they want to take away," he said.

"The police should look out for these officials as we have a belief that they might not be genuine Zimra officials but bogus ones working in cahoots with SSB," he said.

Zimbabwe Teachers Association chief executive Mr Sifiso Ndlovu said the union was still to get a full briefing from their field officers.

He, however, said incentives were not equitable and sustainable and should not be taxed.

"What would they do in areas where one is getting maize and domestic animals as incentives," he said.

"Someone should intervene to save the already suffering teacher who is failing to make ends meet."

Of late there have been meetings between teachers and their employer on whether to terminate the incentives or not.