via Zimra targets ‘viable’ parastatals | The Zimbabwean 2 October 2014
A handful of parastatals that have managed to break even as their counterparts struggle to survive have been targeted by the desperate taxman.
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) is moving swiftly to recoup unpaid taxes from viable parastatals, according to inside sources. The targeted entities include NetOne, the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) and the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA).
“Zimra has been writing to the parastatals to notify them that it will be instituting garnishee orders against them for taxes dating back to 2009 when the economy was dollarised. It is only focusing on a few parastatals that are considered to be operating with some semblance of viability,” said one of the sources.
Close to 80 of the parastatals are suffering acute loss-making and have to rely on government funding to pay salaries. Prominent among these are the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), Zupco and Air Zimbabwe.
Parastatals have been experiencing severe financial problems for close to 15 years and their problems are attributed to corruption, political interference and misplaced priorities.
“The latest move by Zimra will kill the targeted parastatals. Very soon, workers will be going without salaries as all the money goes to honour the garnishees, operations will be affected and skilled staff will flee,” said another source. The sources said Zimra recently ordered CAAZ to supply it with written documents pertaining to its taxes stretching back to February 2009. The tax authority reportedly gave two weeks’ notice that expired on September 25, but information available indicates that the aviation entity has not complied yet. Zimra is also reported to be casting the net wider and seeking to garnish all local authorities, despite them struggling to survive. Last year, government ordered the municipalities to cancel residents’ bills worth millions of dollars, a move the local authorities said severely affected their coffers and impacted service delivery.
They are currently struggling to raise income from ratepayers, who in turn are arguing that they will not pay as essential services are not being delivered.
COMMENTS
Shambolic zpf management by crisis as usual. When will zimra/zrp descend upon magaya tb Joshua chiyangwa makandiwa kunonga kaukonde mliswa matongo con.hogstraaten bredenkamp kasukuwere gono comberbach rautenbach koumides Jamal khalfan chapfika undenge chanakira sham makamba chiwenga chihuri moyo x 3 shiri etc etc
Forgot kereke munyaradzi/karikoga kaseke. Joey bimha. Retired colonels/brigadiers etc
yep garnishayi anazesa ndokurikuperera mhari yese.magona
Viable parastatal. That is a neat oxymoron. No such creature exists
100%fine please. We have to pay our taxes and struggle like hell to make ends meet, these guys allocate themselves new cabs and huge salaries. Who really is killing the economy??
I have a question, do parastatals and govt depts have to pay for items like Zinara and also do they need to insure their motor vehicles? The public gets hammered but I am sure most of these vehicles are not licensed? Just asking?
“Close to 80 of the parastatals are suffering acute loss-making and have to rely on government funding to pay salaries. Prominent among these are the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), Zupco and Air Zimbabwe.” This what is happening to the the private sector due to the racist indigenization policies except they have no-one to bail them out. Meritocracy is the only decent & dignified way to make real progress for all our people. Even in RSA BEE policies have failed because it’s always the “connected” few that benefit.
Look at all the rich people and the people with 1-3 farms and more. Look at all the wealth floating untaxed. Zimbabwe should and can go far all a;lone if there were fair taxas. Lots of people hold on to untaxed wealth while the rest of people are going hungry. I am not so sure whether people making 30-40 thousand dollars per month have been taxed adequately. Moreover, some of them even got untaxed bonuses.