News / National
Unexpalined wealth: Mnangagwa digs in
10 Nov 2018 at 09:31hrs | Views
Wealthy Zimbabweans are in for a fix after President Mnangagwa has pronounced they must explain their source of wealth otherwise it will be deemed as ill gotten wealth.
"People should be able to explain their wealth. Failure should be assumed to mean it s ill-gotten and is seized and converted to public use. This will enhance public confidence & kill apathy creeping in & dampening public morale due to lack of convictions," Mnangagwa said
"Once the legal instrument we are crafting against unexplained wealth & deposits is in place, new measures will be announced to review the (2%) tax which, among other considerations, had been occasioned by illicit activities in the financial service sector."
The move has been welcomed BY Zimbabweans who are itching for the wealthy ZANU PF Bosses to be brought to book for alleged using corrupt tendencies to enrich themselves at the expense of the populace.
In 2014, embattled former ZIMRA commissioner general, Gershem Pasi, indicated that WAS launching an investigation into the sources of funding for the mega structures erected by the rich.
'We actually have an exercise going on, where we are working with the Deeds Office to create a data base of the property sector to ensure that developers and home-owners were complying with taxation laws, Pasi said. This will also assist us in carrying out our audits on home-owners."
This move came as huge mansions and villas were sprouting in Zimbabwe's leafy suburbs at a time when the majority of the population were struggling to make ends meet, raising concerns of possible tax evasion by the affluent in society.
The then Zimra boss indicated that he was consulting former Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa to come up with a law that allows the tax collector to attach fixed properties of tax evaders.
"We want the law to be strengthened so that we can attach immovable properties so that when we see you have (unlawfully) taken money from the company to build mansions, we want to be able to take the property," he said.
Source - Byo24News