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Chinamasa angers Biti over blacks don't pay tax jibe
03 Feb 2017 at 06:10hrs | Views
FINANCE minister Patrick Chinamasa has come under attack this Friday for telling parliament that black people have no culture of paying tax.
That habit, according to Chinamasa was negatively affecting service delivery.
"If you do not want to be taxed, please do not shout and expect better service delivery.
"Our people in the informal sector do not want to be taxed" he began.
Then he dropped the black tag.
"When a black person takes over a business, they do not want to pay taxes. If we want good health, education and roads, we need to have a culture of paying taxes. Who then is supposed to pay taxes, as I cannot tax foreigners?".
Former Finance minister Tendai Biti took to twitter to attack Chinamasa.
"Only an idiot like Chinamasa can suggest that blacks have no culture of paying taxes. What an insult to black professionals & business" @BitiTendai said.
Clayton Moyo using @Clayton_Moyo weighed in saying "What's worse, ironic even, him, his boss and colleagues are living lavishly off those people's taxes".
Meanwhile, Chinamasa's comments came at a time when the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority announced that it surpassed its revenue target for January, driven by Value Added Tax, which was 41 percent above the target.
Net revenues increased by three percent $262,2 million against a target of $254,1 million and 13 percent up when compared with $232 million collected in January last year.
Net collections from Value Added Tax were $76,9 million, largely driven by increased consumption of goods during the festive season, coupled with use of plastic money and the ongoing fiscalisation project whose aim is to plug revenue leakages, Zimra said.
In January last year, Zimra collected $66 million from Value Added Tax.
That habit, according to Chinamasa was negatively affecting service delivery.
"If you do not want to be taxed, please do not shout and expect better service delivery.
"Our people in the informal sector do not want to be taxed" he began.
Then he dropped the black tag.
"When a black person takes over a business, they do not want to pay taxes. If we want good health, education and roads, we need to have a culture of paying taxes. Who then is supposed to pay taxes, as I cannot tax foreigners?".
Former Finance minister Tendai Biti took to twitter to attack Chinamasa.
"Only an idiot like Chinamasa can suggest that blacks have no culture of paying taxes. What an insult to black professionals & business" @BitiTendai said.
Clayton Moyo using @Clayton_Moyo weighed in saying "What's worse, ironic even, him, his boss and colleagues are living lavishly off those people's taxes".
Meanwhile, Chinamasa's comments came at a time when the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority announced that it surpassed its revenue target for January, driven by Value Added Tax, which was 41 percent above the target.
Net revenues increased by three percent $262,2 million against a target of $254,1 million and 13 percent up when compared with $232 million collected in January last year.
Net collections from Value Added Tax were $76,9 million, largely driven by increased consumption of goods during the festive season, coupled with use of plastic money and the ongoing fiscalisation project whose aim is to plug revenue leakages, Zimra said.
In January last year, Zimra collected $66 million from Value Added Tax.
Source - Byo24News
