The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has extended its amnesty for those with undeclared assets that were accrued prior to 1 December, 2017, with the scheme now set to end on 30 June.
In a statement on its website, the tax authority, known locally as ZIMRA, said it was extending the amnesty “in an effort to encourage our valued clients to regularise their tax affairs”, and was making provisions for the granting of a tax amnesty “to persons on application”, through its recently published Finance Act.
It defines “persons” as “companies, [a] corporate or unincorporated body of persons and trusts”.
According to The Zimbabwe Mail, The ZIMRA is “owed close to US$4bn by taxpayers dating back to 2009 – almost equal to the 2018 revenue target of US$4.3bn – but finance minister Patrick Chinamasa in the 2018 Budget statement said economic challenges experienced over the past decade have resulted in a number of companies failing to meet their tax obligations”.
According to the ZIMRA statement, the Zimbabwe tax amnesty covers all outstanding taxes or duties, including income tax, pay-as-you-earn, value added tax, presumptive tax, capital gains tax, customs and excise duty and stamp duty.
A payment plan should be proposed by the applicant at the time of application, it adds, and the outstanding taxes or duties should be paid by 30 June 2018.
The tax amnesty amount is based on the amount of outstanding tax or duty actually paid, and applications for amnesty won’t be considered in cases in which “the application is in respect of any seizure, forefeiture or detention of any property or goods; the application is submitted after 30 June, 2018; [or] the outstanding taxes or duties have not been paid by 30 June 2018”.
