News / National
Zimra raids bank accounts
26 Mar 2015 at 07:57hrs | Views
AS the cash crisis deepens, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) has launched an unprecedented blitz on defaulters, going as far as raiding bank accounts of companies with tax arrears, as Treasury leans heavily on its revenue-collecting arm to ensure things do not fall apart in government.
With virtually nothing trickling into government coffers from other sources such as aid, grants or balance of payments support, Treasury is now heavily reliant on ZIMRA to extract every little penny they can get to sustain operations.
A priority for government has been to raise enough cash to fund salaries for its 553 000 strong workforce.
Given the spectre of demonstrations that rocked the country in recent weeks, with the highlight being the riotous behaviour of prisoners at Chikurubi Maximum Prison which claimed the lives of five people, government is desperate to forestall any potential for discord among its employees.
With Treasury breathing hard down on their necks, ZIMRA officers have been pouncing on all those with outstanding obligations to the authority.
Government is owed over US$1 billion in outstanding taxes by companies, some of which have collapsed due to an economic crisis in the country.
A number of companies have had their bank accounts raided in the last few weeks on the strength of garnishee orders issued by ZIMRA to the financial institutions to enforce compliance.
The country's largest industrial lobby group, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) confirmed this week that a number of their members had their accounts garnished over outstanding tax payments since the beginning of this month.
ZIMRA officers were demanding files for the targeted institutions from their banks.
The bank executives observed an increase in the number of garnishee orders on company accounts in recent days as the tax collector tries to force payment of tax arrears.
The blitz comes ahead of the expiry of a tax amnesty at the end of this month.
The tax amnesty, which became effective on October 1, 2014, was expected to grant reprieve to tax defaulters in respect of non-compliance, which occurred during the period beginning February 1, 2009 and September 30, 2014.
The tax amnesty period was meant to allow taxpayers with outstanding obligations to voluntarily inform ZIMRA about their positions.
ZIMRA commissioner-general, Gershem Pasi, has warned that if the conduct of the authority in the past had been interpreted as merciless, then it was going to be more ruthless to tax cheats and defaulters after the expiry of a tax amnesty.
Last month, Pasi lamented the fact that only a few companies had volunteered to inform ZIMRA about their outstanding tax obligations, saying those that had chosen to ignore the tax amnesty should not regret the consequences of any action likely to be meted out against them for tax delinquencies.
It would appear the gloves are already off, even before the expiry of the tax amnesty.
With virtually nothing trickling into government coffers from other sources such as aid, grants or balance of payments support, Treasury is now heavily reliant on ZIMRA to extract every little penny they can get to sustain operations.
A priority for government has been to raise enough cash to fund salaries for its 553 000 strong workforce.
Given the spectre of demonstrations that rocked the country in recent weeks, with the highlight being the riotous behaviour of prisoners at Chikurubi Maximum Prison which claimed the lives of five people, government is desperate to forestall any potential for discord among its employees.
With Treasury breathing hard down on their necks, ZIMRA officers have been pouncing on all those with outstanding obligations to the authority.
Government is owed over US$1 billion in outstanding taxes by companies, some of which have collapsed due to an economic crisis in the country.
A number of companies have had their bank accounts raided in the last few weeks on the strength of garnishee orders issued by ZIMRA to the financial institutions to enforce compliance.
The country's largest industrial lobby group, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) confirmed this week that a number of their members had their accounts garnished over outstanding tax payments since the beginning of this month.
The bank executives observed an increase in the number of garnishee orders on company accounts in recent days as the tax collector tries to force payment of tax arrears.
The blitz comes ahead of the expiry of a tax amnesty at the end of this month.
The tax amnesty, which became effective on October 1, 2014, was expected to grant reprieve to tax defaulters in respect of non-compliance, which occurred during the period beginning February 1, 2009 and September 30, 2014.
The tax amnesty period was meant to allow taxpayers with outstanding obligations to voluntarily inform ZIMRA about their positions.
ZIMRA commissioner-general, Gershem Pasi, has warned that if the conduct of the authority in the past had been interpreted as merciless, then it was going to be more ruthless to tax cheats and defaulters after the expiry of a tax amnesty.
Last month, Pasi lamented the fact that only a few companies had volunteered to inform ZIMRA about their outstanding tax obligations, saying those that had chosen to ignore the tax amnesty should not regret the consequences of any action likely to be meted out against them for tax delinquencies.
It would appear the gloves are already off, even before the expiry of the tax amnesty.
Source - fingaz
