adminVacant factories, dilapidated buildings, empty shops and massive unemployment all bear testimony of how the mighty city has fallen.
In view of the problems facing the city, all efforts must be directed at saving it from further collapse. The few remaining companies must be given all the support they need to remain operational.
At a meeting organised by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries in Bulawayo on Tuesday, business executives accused the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and the National Social Security Authority of contributing to the demise of local companies by hitting them with garnish orders to recover monies owed to the two bodies.
Business people want the statutory bodies to ease down on the collection of their dues to give them breathing space to run their businesses.
“It is not that industries do not want to pay but there is nothing going on there. Capacity utilisation is at zero but it seems Zimra and NSSA have developed targets, a situation that is killing industry. Forcing industries to pay outstanding debts by garnishing them accelerates the rate at which they are closing shop and will eventually remain with no company at all.
Zimra and NSSA should think about this,” one participant was quoted as saying.
The issues raised by our businesses are pertinent but also raise questions.
Should local businesses be exempted from the tax obligations just because they are going through a rough patch?
Should Zimra and NSSA continue squeezing the already dry companies until there is nothing to squeeze anymore?
We would like to believe that Zimra would benefit more if it receives taxes from thriving companies rather than forcing them to close down by garnishing their accounts.
At the same time, companies need to understand that Zimra and NSSA are not financial institutions that offer interest free loans to companies. By failing to remit dues on time, companies would have given themselves interest free loans.
It is no secret that some companies are deducting money from workers’ salaries and not remitting the same to Zimra and NSSA but using it for their operations.
With the severe liquidity crunch in the country, we believe that companies and statutory bodies need to strike a balance that will result in a win-win situation.
It is unfair for business executives to accuse Zimra of contributing to their demise without offering solutions to their problems. If Bulawayo companies are exempted from their tax liabilities because they are going through tough times, it would set a bad precedent and revenue streams to Treasury might dry out.
Treasury has had to revise downwards its revenue targets because money is not coming through.
Most of the Government’s revenue comes from Zimra-collected taxes.
Zimra also needs to be sensitive to the economic climate the country is going though. It should accept payment plans from business people and resort to garnish orders which wipe out bank balances only as a last resort when all else fails.
If companies close down because they have had to pay all their money to Zimra, it means that there would be no more taxes once the authority has collected its debts.
Online Reporter