adminLUSAKA — Zambia has relaxed the rule requiring exporters to produce documents from destination countries to claim tax refunds, the revenue authority said, in a move to resolve a row that threatens investment in Africa’s second-biggest copper producer.
Zambia has been withholding the VAT payments from mining companies and other exporters it says have not produced import certificates from destination countries – a step the government says is needed for greater transparency.
The industry says that it is almost impossible to produce such documentation because it sells to multi-national trading houses, and has for months been saying it is owed over $600-million.
Meanwhile, Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), a unit of Vedanta Resources, says the resolution to a dispute with the Zambian government over value added tax (VAT) refunds would allow it to ramp up copper production.
KCM also said it would now be able to profitably purchase copper concentrate from neighbouring mines for processing at its smelter, after the government relaxed its rules on the documentation mining exporters need to claim tax refunds.
The row over how mining companies account for the minerals they export from Zambia had led to more than $600-million in VAT refunds being withheld from mining companies, including Glencore and First Quantum Minerals. – Reuters.
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