Govt to launch Sales Tax on July 1-Mwanakatwe
Written by Millennium on May 16, 2019
BUUMBA CHIMBULU writes
GOVERNMENT is confident that it will implement sales tax on July 1, as a comprehensive research has been undertaken to ensure that the consultation process is concluded within the remaining month, says minister of finance, says Margaret Mwanakatwe.
The minister was responding to a proposal from Premier Consult Limited chief executive officer, Oliver Saasa that the implementation date of the sales tax should be moved to January 1, 2020 to allow for more consultations and give the business community ample time to adjust.
In response, Ms Mwanakatwe said her ministry had engaged consultants and conducted a research to ensure that the consultation process was concluded before July 1, 2019.
Ms Mwanakatwe said she would however inform the nation if Government would not be able to implement the sales tax on set date.
She was speaking yesterday in Lusaka when she was giving an update on Economic Developments in 2019.
“We have been doing a lot of research, we have brought in consultants and internal self-searching and we are now talking to stakeholders, we are going right across the country, next week we will be out of Lusaka and the general feeling is that we have done a lot of work.
“If for any reason there is something that we have forgotten and we can’t implement Goods and Services Tax on July 1, 2019, I will be the first one to come to you but right now it looks like we are on course to start on July 1, 2019,” she said.
Professor Saasa recently warned that that “if the process is faulty then any other good strategy or policy can be faultered and you will find that the people that are supposed to support you are not with you.”
