Bulawayo MSMEs call for more tax compliance trainings

MICRO-SMALL to medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Bulawayo have called on the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) to roll out more tax compliance and registration training in simplified jargon to ensure they formalise their businesses.

This comes at a time when most MSMEs are not tax compliant and are affected by nationwide blitz targeting smuggled goods and counterfeit products.

As the Government continues to bolster revenue collection, a number of flea markets and premises in Bulawayo have faced closure due to perceived tax evasion.

As efforts to ensure MSMEs are not affected by the closures, the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community Small and Medium Enterprises Development, in partnership with the Zimra, trained 80 Bulawayo MSMEs on tax compliance and registration procedures at the Mhlahlandlela Government Complex on Wednesday.

However, the MSMEs said most of the things required for them to formalise their operations included technical procedures, which, for some, are difficult to understand and would eat into their pockets when they seek the services of Zimra agents or accountants.

“We want to be tax compliant, but some of the jargon used by Zimra on us is too hard to understand. We are then forced to look for agents or accountants that charge us a lot of money when we want to do tax calculations and filing,” said Ms Nobuhle Sibanda, an SME operator in clothing retail.

She said that, as active as Zimra officials and task forces roll out the blitz, they should also be on the ground, engaging MSMEs on what it is that they need to do.

Mr Luke Ndlovu, who is into printing services, said there is always mention of tax returns, whereas MSMEs can request a refund for overpaid taxes but have never benefited from such.

“We have given reports on our business’s income, expenses and other relevant financial information for the request of a refund for overpaid taxes, but you are told to go from one office to the other and you end up giving up,” he said.

“Why does Zimra not have regular trainings that ensure they give us practical training on these things so that we can do them on our own rather than continuously paying agents to do these things for us?”

Miss Anabel Sithole said that when it comes to tax filing, they were faced with challenges such as high compliance costs, lack of proper record-keeping systems, difficulties with electronic filing systems and limited professional expertise, among others.

Speaking during the workshop, a Zimra official called on the MSMEs to understand the tax procedures they need to follow.

“As MSMEs, you are required to register with the Zimra and comply with various tax obligations to formalise your operations and avoid penalties. Businesses must register to obtain a Business Partner (BP) Number and a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN),” said the official.

“Online Registration is conducted via the TaRMS Self Service Portal.”

The official said to get a Tax Clearance Certificate from Zimra’s TaRMS system, MSMEs must be fully compliant, meaning all their returns are submitted, taxes paid and data updated.

“The certificate is then auto-generated and emailed to you, with no application needed if you meet all requirements on the TaRMS Self-Service Portal. You need to register on the portal, ensure your TIN is active and clear any outstanding tax obligations for the system to produce it automatically.”

As the city’s entrepreneurial backbone, MSMEs play a vital role in driving innovation, reducing unemployment and fostering community development, while they are estimated to generate 67 percent of Bulawayo’s revenue.

According to the United Nations (UN) globally, MSMEs account for 90 percent of businesses, employ 60 to 70 percent of the workforce and contribute approximately 50 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

In Zimbabwe, the 2021 MSME Survey and the 2022 Finscope Survey highlight that MSMEs contribute over 60 percent of the GDP and employ 4,8 million people on a full-time basis.