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Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
PROSPECTIVE investors intending to establish businesses in Bulawayo have accused the Bulawayo City Council of refusing to issue them with trading licences because the local authority requires a tax clearance certificate longer than three months.
To secure a trading licence from local authorities, businesses are required to produce a tax clearance certificate issued by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra).
A tax consultant (name supplied) last week told Business Chronicle that some of her clients who are prospective investors in the city were recently turned down by BCC as a result of the three-month tax certificates.
“My clients who are prospective investors have not been issued with trading licences from BCC despite having secured three-month tax clearance certificates from Zimra,” said the tax consultant.
“BCC has refused to issue them with trading licences saying they need tax clearance certificates longer than three months.”
The consultant said some of the prospective investors in the fishing industry have since threatened to take their projects to Zambia.
“They have tried to negotiate with the BCC licensing office several times but the city council has insisted that it cannot issue the trading licences. The prospective investors are into different sectors that include retail, food industry and fishing,” said the tax consultant.
BCC senior public relations officer Nesisa Mpofu had not responded to written questions from this paper by the time of going to print on Friday.
Meanwhile, empowerment group Affirmative Action Group (AAG) national vice president Sam Ncube castigated BCC for the allegations.
“As an empowerment group, we do not condone such actions because they block investment in the city.
“All those offices blocking investment in the city should be kicked out, we need people who can conceptualise a problem and say what is it that we can do. We don’t want people with bookish theories.
“If businesses or prospective investors face such problems they should tell us and we will open the doors for them,” he said.
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