Dear Editor,
THE Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) is a quasi government institution mandated to collect taxes from taxpayers every month.
It is one thing to collect taxes from taxpayers and is another to overburden them as the case is at the moment.
Our country has so many taxes imposed on taxpayers. Many entrepreneurs are facing some challenges to make profit owing to high com-petition on the market for instance. Worse yet, they have to pay different forms of taxes.
These taxes include turnover tax, value added tax (VAT), pay as you earn (PAYE), withholding tax among other forms of taxes.
I recall vividly that fifth and late president Michael Chilufya Sata bemoaned high taxes in the country which impact negatively on people’s lives.
His campaign was premised on lower taxes and more money in people’s pockets. This is no longer the case under the current regime. May his soul rest in peace.
The government through ZRA had just introduced underground water and borehole tax whose motive is still unclear.
As if this was not good enough, the government is in the process of taxing people in the informal sector preferably the marketeers. This doesn’t augur well as a matter of fact.
All said and done, taxpayers are already overburdened with high taxes. There is need to stop introducing more taxes which affect many taxpayers.
ELEMIYA PHIRI,
Lusaka.
Author
