Fiscalised tax registers: Zimra cracks whip

following representations by players over the high costs of the devices.
Initially, there were two suppliers but Government licensed eight more, leading to prices going down.
The Government has also undertaken to sponsor 50 percent of the cost of the acquisition of the fiscal devices to lower the burden on retailers.
Zimra Commissioner-General Gershem Pasi said for every day that they were in default firms were being fined US$25 for every till point. “But if they have not complied they can apply for exemption of penalty which we can grant for 30 days. I have already received one appeal for a penalty exemption,” he said.
Mr Pasi, however, acknowledged difficulties that retailers were encountering in complying with Government’s directive. Fiscalised tax registers record sales at the point of sale as each register is fixed with a memory card that records fiscal data used by Zimra to collect taxes.
Under the new system, Zimra would have access to view the flow of revenue in business enterprises.
The Ministry of Finance contends that Government is being prejudiced of revenue under the old system.
Revenue collection is expected to increase by 20 percent once all stakeholders have adopted the fiscalised tax registers.
South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya are some of the countries in Africa that have already adopted the new tax management system. – New Ziana