By JAMES KUNDA –

.Chanda

THE Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has surpassed the tax collection target for 2017 by more than K600 million, and is targeting an extra K400 million before the close of the year.
ZRA Commissioner General Kingsley Chanda told journalists in Lusaka yesterday that K36.7 billion was targeted as money to be realised from taxes this year, but the target was met by December 16, this year.
“Between December 16 and today (yesterday), we’ve raised K600 million extra and we have targeted to raise another K400 million come December 31, to achieve a total of K1 million above target,” Mr Chanda said.
He said the authority was owed K8 billion in principle taxes by clients and through the tax amnesty implemented this year, K4 billion was retained.
This, he said bettered the target of raising K1.5 billion from the amnesty.
Mr Chanda said ZRA refunded clients K6.7 billion in Value Added Tax (VAT) refunds and between 65 and 70 per cent of the money, were refunds to the mines.
He said the Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFD’S) to be rolled out next year had arrived in the country and installed for commissioning.
The devices, he said would be used to monitor retail transactions from any point of sale and purchase for the tax authority to determine the taxes to be realised from each transaction.
Mr Chanda also said the authority had so far issued out 250,000 Tax Payer Identification Numbers (TPIN’S) to the public.
He said the due date for people to access TPIN’S was March 31, 2018.
Meanwhile, Mr Chanda said the authority had impounded another 12 trucks laden with Mukula logs at Chirundu border post in a burst of an attempted smuggling exercise.
He said the commodity and the vehicles would be forfeited to the State.
Meanwhile, ZRA has donated 35 motor vehicles confiscated from smugglers to various Government and private institutions.
The vehicles were impounded from various parts of the country and beneficiaries include the Zambia National Service (ZNS), Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) and Saint John Paul II Orthopaedic Mission Hospital in Lusaka.
Mr Chanda said the vehicles, which were valued at K1.5 million, were given with fuel Tom-cards worth K5,000.
Mr Chanda said the donations were in accordance with Section 204 of the Customs and Excise Act, and the requisite Ministry of Finance approval.
He said ZRA has this year donated 69 vehicles, inclusive of the 35, worth K2, 850,000 to different institutions to curb smuggling and other related vices.
He was speaking during a hand-over ceremony of the vehicles in Lusaka’s Makeni area yesterday.
Vice-President Inonge Wina, whose office oversees DMMU, said the vehicle donated to the agency would help enhance prompt response to calamity.
Ms Wina said this through DMMU national coordinator Yande Mwape, who is also a permanent secretary in her office.
ZNS commandant Nathan Mulenga assured Mr Chanda and the nation that the vehicle donated to the service would be put to good use.
Lieutenant General Mulenga urged ZRA to continually engage the defence wing whenever in need of aid when carrying out operations to curb tax avoidance by unscrupulous people.
Saint John Paul hospital administrator Annette Chilufya hailed the tax authority for the gesture, saying the two donated vehicles would ameliorate the transport challenges at the institution.