Retailers yet to install tax registers

companies remains low, with the prohibitive costs that local suppliers are charging merging as the major stumbling block.
Registered operators are required to use the fiscalised registers for purposes of enhancing accounting for VAT.
The Ministry of Finance contends that Government is being prejudiced of revenue under the old system.
In the new system, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority would have access to view the flow of revenue in business enterprises.
Companies have indicated to the Government that registered operators were operating systems that were adequate to the business and forcing them to foot the cost of installing the new gadgets had a huge impact on cash flows.
Registered operators in retail who are operating centralised or networked point of sale systems have said they were in a dilemma following the huge investments they made in their current systems.
Retailers’ Association of Zimbabwe president Mr Themba Ndebele said the process of installing the new technology would take time owing to a number of bottlenecks.
“The story about fiscalised tax registers is not a size one fits all case,” he said.
“There are a lot of things that need to be addressed. This is not just a matter of plugging in the new devices; it is a very highly technical issue,” he added.
Mr Ndebele said retailers would need to have consistent power supplies and high internet connectivity for the fiscalised tax registers to function effectively.
The new tax technology, he added, was also costly with expenses going beyond US$1,5 million.
One of the country’s biggest retail chains, Spar, reportedly received a US$1,6 million quotation to install the devices.
“If there is no internet connectivity, the Zimra cannot read your fiscalised tax registers,” said Mr Ndebele.
“There is a lot of software involved. Some of the software is not manufactured locally. Businesses also need back-up power supplies to keep the devices active,” he added.
Currently, two indigenous firms, namely Axis Solutions and First Computers, are the only firms selling the new devices with their prices reportedly 50 percent more than those made in Kenya.
“Our members submitted their implementation plans to the Ministry of Finance and it shows that everyone has got different computer systems and that there are at different levels of implementation,” Mr Ndebele said.
Revenue collection is expected to increase by 20 percent once all stakeholders have adopted the fiscalised tax devices.
South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya are some of the African countries that have already adopted the new tax management system. – New Ziana.