Zimra surpasses July revenue target by 11%

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) continues to enjoy the benefits of various initiatives it has been implementing to increase revenue collection with gross collection for July surpassing the $286,49 million target by 11 percent. Gross collections for July were $302,86 million, while net collections - after deducting $16,37 million refunds - were $286,49 million representing a 6,34 percent above target.

The net collection were also up 16,36 percent compared to those for July 2016.

Zimra said revenue collections for the seven months from January 2017 were also above the 2016 collections, except for April and June where revenue targets were marginally missed by 6,70 percent and 2,24 percent respectively.

"The sterling performance is a result of the automation drive, stakeholder engagements, anti-corruption initiatives and intensified enforcement programmes that are being implemented by the authority to enhance revenue collections," it said.

Value Added Tax (VAT) on both local sales and imports performed above set targets, mainly due to the increase in the use of electronic payment systems and the rolling out of the Electronic Cargo Tracking System, which continues to bear fruits through curbing smuggling and transit fraud.

Gross VAT collections on Local Sales of $76,32 million were 37,52 percent above the target of $55,50 million.

Net VAT on Local Sales amounted to $60,08 million after deducting refunds of $16,24 million, resulting in a positive variance of 8,25 percent.

Collections under VAT on imports were $37,73 million against a target of $28,60 million. Revenue collections under this revenue head exceeded the set target by 31,93 percent and increased by 24,07 percent compared to the $30,41 million collected in July 2016.

Individual Tax collections rose 6,09 percent from the July 2016 collections due to intensified enforcement measures being implemented by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.

The $64,72 million collected in July was also 1,48 percent above the target of $63,77 million.

Increase in volumes of fuel imports, owing to improved availability of foreign currency on priority imports and the Electronic Cargo Tracking System — which is improving volumes of properly declared fuels entering the domestic market, saw an upsurge in Excise Duty collections.

The revenue head contributed $59,96 million against a target of $56,39 million, resulting in a positive variance of 6,34 percent. Excise Duty collections were 30,32 percent above the $46,01 million collected in July 2016.

Corporate Income Tax collections of $12,42 million were 15,03 percent above target. Customs Duty, on the other hand, contributed gross collections of $27,72 million and net revenue of $27,71 million against a target of $23,70 million, resulting in a positive variance of 16,90 percent on net revenue collections.

Net collections for the period under review increased by 35,01 percent from the $20,52 million collected during the same period last year. Zimra has continued to step up efforts to mobilise revenue through stakeholder engagements and implementation of programmes meant to boost operational efficiency and effectiveness.

The moratorium for registration of small-to-medium enterprises, which ran from 1st January to 30th June 2017 has seen almost 13 000 new taxpayers registering with Zimra, signalling an increase in the tax base.