Tue, 04 Jul 2017 10:55:51 +0000
By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
HIGH illicit trade in cigarettes has contributed to the low tax contribution by the Tobacco industry and Government should, therefore, intensify its enforcement, says British Tobacco security and brand enforcement manager Milupi Nyambe.
Mr Nyambe lamented in an interview that the illicit trade had taken a large market share of the commodity.
“The illicit trade in cigarettes has affected us in the sense that it is reducing market share considering that the illicit products are cheap and as you know there is low disposable income in Zambia, so you will find that people go for a cheaper products.
“So, somehow that affects our business and at the same time it reduces our contribution in terms of revenue to Government because if illicit trade is high, it means our sales go down which means our taxes also reduce. That is how it has negatively affected the business,” he said.
Mr Nyambe said the current scenario called for more enforcement from the authority.
He, however, said there were tax stamps on the cigarettes which if properly enforced, the problem of illicit trade could be reduced or eradicated.
“It is easy to tell which product is illegal because all the compliant products will have a Zambia Revenue Authority tax stamps. If there is enforcement especially from ZRA, then this problem can be sorted and it will mean more revenue for the Government,” he said.
