THE Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has collected K2.6 billion revenue following an overwhelming response from eligible taxpayers and that has prompted the Government to extend the amnesty on tax penalties and interest obligations granted to taxpayers for three months.
Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwae said the extension of the amnesty was necessitated by an overwhelming response from eligible taxpayers as the ZRA had received over 11,700 tax amnesty applications resulting in the K2.6 billion revenue collection.
“With this extension, we are confident that no eligible taxpayer will be left behind. We also anticipate to collect more revenue from the initiative,” Dr Musokotwane said.
Dr Musokotwane said in a statement yesterday that the taxpayers’ positive response was a manifestation of the effectiveness of some of the tax-related measures which the Government introduced as part of the 2023 Budget.
Dr Musokotwane said despite the slow start in the early days of the amnesty, Zambians had now appreciated the benefit of the measure to their businesses and were applying in large numbers.
“We commend those who have applied and benefitted from the process to take this opportunity to encourage others who have not done so to take advantage of the extension,” he said.
In the 2023 Budget speech, Dr Musokotwane announced the introduction of an amnesty programme to give relief to taxpayers on penalties and interest accrued on tax obligations.
The amnesty had been running from October 1, 2022 and was scheduled to end yesterday, but was with immediate effect extended up to June 30, 2023
