Source: Zimra warns tax evading businesses | Sunday News (local news)

Munyaradzi Musiiwa, Sunday News Reporter

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) has warned business operators who have not been declaring sales made in foreign currency in order to short change the taxman by harvesting hard currency that they will not be issued with tax clearance certificates for 2021.

Ms Mazani said all business trading in foreign currency but not declaring sales risk not being issued with tax clearances next year over and above the charging of penalties and interests, prosecution as well as naming and shaming non-compliant sectors.

“In line with SI 185 of 2020, ZIMRA issued a Public Notice No. 40 of 2020 addressing certain business malpractices. Among the observations made, ZIMRA noted that some businesses are not recording transactions being tendered for in foreign currency. Where transactions have been recorded, part or all the foreign currency tendered is not being declared for tax purposes. Transactions in foreign currency are being written in manual registers. Operators are receiving foreign currency from their customers and issuing them RTGS receipts.

Ms Mazani said some of the businesses were not banking foreign currency earned from sales thereby prejudicing Government of potential revenue.

“Foreign currency tendered is not being banked. Parallel manual invoicing is being used for recording transactions involving foreign currency, and such invoices are not declared for tax purposes. There are stand-alone tills, which are not configured to the ZIMRA fiscalisation system. Some traders have created back offices and banking halls where forex payments are being received but not receipted nor declared on returns. Offline separate systems are being kept for transactions involving foreign currency,” she said.