adminTHE year 2016 is upon us and everyone hopes for a better future. It is no secret that 2015 was a tough calendar for the country on the economic front, as companies continued to downsize, while others closed shop completely.
In the end, many people were forced out of employment on three months’ notice, while some companies slashed salaries in order to stay aloft.
Electricity blackouts worsened, with no hope for immediate remedy and this resulted in businesses and households relying on generators which are expensive to run.
This meant that, for businesses, operating costs continued to balloon while for households their disposable income was quickly eroded.
All this economic turmoil meant low tax collection for the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority which is supposed to fund the Government purse.
Traditional companies that used to contribute immensely to the national fiscus in terms of taxation, be it PAYE, income tax, value added tax or any other tax bands folded up leaving the tax collector with a thin tax base to collect from.
This meant that Government projects as well as civil servants were greatly affected.
In the New Year we expect a paradigm shift in the way we do business.
As for Zimra, the tax collector must direct its focus on the emerging informal sector where many are now working from.
There is need for Zimra to come up with convenient ways of making small businesses pay something to Government in order to raise money to fund Government projects.
It is time that the tax collector visits the informal traders and gets their input on how best they can come up with a strategy to make them pay.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Dr John Mangudya, said the country had the potential to grow economically if we desist from the blame game.
He said the energy and time that we waste on hitting on each other must be used on production so that we produce more and export the surplus to other countries and get foreign currency.
With vast natural resources at our disposal that range from gold, diamonds, timber and platinum the country will claim its rightful place if everyone pulls in the same direction.
Corruption and a litany of other vices continue to derail plans of full economic recovery and in the New Year those calling the shots must ensure that perpetrators of such crimes are meant to answer their ills.
When corruption is left to go unchecked individuals will benefit and the expense of the community.
We urge those in charge to heftily award whistle blowers in the New Year because it is one of the most effective ways to ensure that things that are seemingly hidden get exposed.
Zimbabweans must continue to show the resilience and worker harder for a better future.
It is everyone’s responsibility to work together for a better Zimbabwe and we hope if we pool our efforts and resources together, the country will move forward.
Happy New Year.
Online Reporter