ZRA rolls out tax compliance level techniques

BUUMBA CHIMBULU writes

@SunZambian

SEVERAL systems to cater for both walk-in taxpayers and electronic means for those with access to the internet have been introduced by the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) in an effort to increase tax compliance. 

Such platforms for clients with access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) include TaxOnline II, TaxOnApp, Customs Electronic Management Systems and E-payments. These efforts are meant to encourage tax compliance levels among taxpayers, according to the ZRA Corporate Communications Officer, Mildred Chama. Ms Chama said ZRA had intensified taxpayer education with interventions aimed at specific audiences to cure non-compliance due to the non-optimal tax understanding by taxpayers and several stakeholders including the general public. “Further the Authority uses various media to reach the audiences bearing in mind media loyalty, literacy levels and media reach. “It is important to ensure that taxpayers are given cost effective, useful and easy to use tax systems to enable them meet their obligations with minimal challenges,” she said in her write-up on Tax Compliance Saves You Money. ZRA, Ms Chama said, fully understood its role in creating awareness and facilitating easy compliance mechanisms to various taxpayers. 

She indicated that the authority was well aware that while people could be aware of their obligations, levels of compliance were still relatively low. “Currently, compliance levels among taxpayers is not at 100 percent. To ensure that the rights of a Taxpayer and the obligations of a Taxpayer are taken together, with each given appropriate weight in a way that one does not override the other, taxpayers should be informed of their rights and obligations,” she said.