Weaving the revenue basket

Government's determination to expand its revenue collections especially by re-introducing the pension's contributions is a noble initiative on the long run despite the mudslinging on the move by distractive elements concerned with imagined escalating crises Zimbabwe.

The consequential truth is in every revolution there are casualties and like the Greek god Kronos the revolution can also devour its own at times. This is not to rub salt on anyone's wound but a simple reminder that everything has to start from somewhere in life.

Pension's contributions brought in a hullaballoo from the civil service since its re-introduction this year. Civil servants had last contributed their pensions in 2009. This was a year after the dark 2008 which was characterized by heightened economic misfortunes for Zimbabwe. The government moved in and eased the strain on its workers' meagre earnings. Now that the government is trying to cut back its expenditure on the wage bill one would expect it's workers to be the most understanding.

Logically one should not forget that at some point in life they would want to retire and have to be rewarded their pensions. It then becomes a necessary evil if it can ever be called so, to contribute towards a comfort future.

The availing of pension funds means that one won't freak out from retiring thereby opening up posts for new players in the civil service. It is safe to then posit that pension's contribution should have been introduced the moment the multi-currency system was introduced in our economy.

In this regard civil servants can only blame government for handling them with kid gloves and proclaim that they would not want to graduate from that.

A near solution suggestion to ease the pressure on government would be to capacitate our point of entries (borders) to maximize revenue collection. Charging 40% duty on sweets won't work the magic altogether. Scratching of rebates and deserving duty exemptions on travellers isn't really a big deal in maximizing revenue collection if the obvious leakages are left unattended.

Serious investment in border security technology such as scanners can increase accountability and transparency in monitoring transactions at the borders. The recent cases of passengers debussing and offloading their goods at customs check point isn't just hectic but instigate travellers to want to bribe ZIMRA officials to facilitate smooth passage. Thus, with state of the art technology government will realise more.

Standardization of service delivery should cascade to the tourism industry with the encouragement of hoteliers to adopt plastic money and online transactions with the sole purposes of increasing accountability and automatic compliance to taxpaying by companies.

As the case stands despite the introduction of the myriad duties, corrupt ZIMRA officials and the Malaichas are benefiting more than government. Reliance on human resource for the extensive revenue collection will only thicken individuals' pockets. Let's migrate to digitalization and ensure every cent is accounted for and put to good use by the end of the day.

Another special consideration should be accorded to the fact that our economy has become so informal hence the need to think in other terms as far as effecting presumptive taxes is concerned. All the vendors and kiosk operators should be registered and play their part responsibly.

This is an achievable exercise once the matter is not politicized and implemented to expand the revenue base for Zimbabwe. Problems will likely emerge when the burden of Zimbabwe is offloaded solely on the shoulders of the few formally employed citizens.

Collectively in water tight revenue collection system Zimbabwe can raise more and sustain its transaction with less hustles and disappointments.