admin
Oliver Kazunga Acting Business Editor
A LOCAL tax consultant, Fiona Farmer, has blasted the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) in Bulawayo for continuously making errors on their systems and delaying issuing tax clearance certificates to taxpayers since 2010.
She told Business Chronicle that without tax clearance certificates, businesses cannot trade legally.
“For the last four years all taxpayers have battled to get tax clearance certificates from Zimra.
“The problem lies in the way in which the debtors’ card is managed,” Farmer said.
In the past four years, she said, Zimra had requested taxpayers to reconcile the debtors’ card and spend hours clearing the authority’s errors at each tax clearance period.
“What’s odd is that the same errors keep popping up time and again,” said Farmer, adding that she fails to understand how this was possible unless someone was deliberately sabotaging the cards.
She said it was a fact that Zimra wasn’t up to date in recording all assessments such as Quarterly Payments Date (QPD) payments, Pay As You Earn (Paye) payments or Value Added Tax (VAT) payments.
“In each instance although the taxpayer has paid on time and furnished Zimra offices with a copy of both the VAT 7 return and the deposit into the Zimra account, for some reason the debt is recorded in the computer but not the payment.
“This is odd when you consider the payment is always attached to the form.
“This error is duplicated with QPD payments and Paye payments.”
Farmer said there were a number of other errors arising from the tax collector entering double debits, undertaking automatic clearing “incorrectly”, failure to capture returns even when they were furnished as well as posting VAT payments to income tax or withholding tax payments posted incorrectly to wrong accounts.
“We analysed why the errors occur and noted that Zimra staff don’t take care when inputting information.
“There’s a problem with Zimra’s system where forms are being lodged reflecting payments and yet Zimra staff fails to capture those payments.
“The authority’s staff aren’t correctly identifying where the payment should be posted and can’t action the automatic clearing function correctly.
“What’s astonishing is the fact that the taxpayer will repeatedly produce copies of all the missing returns and/or deposits. We know these were received by Zimra as they reflect a Zimra stamp. Yet they aren’t captured in the SAPS system.
“It appears no one at Zimra seems to have the will to sit down and enter the corrections on the card.”
In one of the examples shown to this paper, Zimra staff hadn’t recorded assessments and payments correctly on a taxpayers debtors’ card more than 12 times.
The taxpayer pointed out Zimra omissions on several separate occasions.
In June 2014 the taxpayer reconciled the debtor’s card and furnished proof again of the omitted amounts and received acknowledgment from Zimra on July 21, 2014 that the error had been corrected.
On July 31, 2014 the tax collector sent another letter listing a number of debits on the taxpayer’s card.
The taxpayer responded on August 5, 2014 pointing out that she had reconciled the card and received acknowledgement that the card was corrected.
On September 25, 2014 Zimra again stated it had corrected the omissions on the debtors’ card.
“Imagine the taxpayer’s shock when on October 25, 2014 Zimra sent a demand for outstanding taxes of $152,495.14. A totally false account. Zimra incorrectly debited our client with interest for $204,782,97.
“More worrying is the fact that when we examined the cards, Zimra personnel are very good with their excuses for the incorrect entries so you’ve to have your wits about you or you’ll be conned into paying for those false debits,” said Farmer.
She said it was worrying that Zimra staff don’t appear to believe they were accountable for their actions.
“Frequently when they blunder they word their letters so that they don’t admit to the errors but in fact give the false impression that most of the amounts were correctly posted when this wasn’t the case. I’ve often wondered whether this was to con their superiors into thinking no errors were made.”
Farmer said despite her clients being up to date and tax compliant, they haven’t been issued with tax clearance certificates.
“We were informed by Zimra’s Nyoni that they were waiting for authority from head office in Harare but that the date of issue would be December 18, 2014.
“She advised that in the meantime the accounting body should prepare lists of clients who require tax clearances and they would start checking the names against the debtors’ card to see if they were up to date.
“We’ve been frantically busy reproducing proof to Zimra to show what their debtors’ card should contain. We questioned the lateness of the issue date as most companies close on December 19 but we were assured that the process would be smooth.
“On December 15 my colleagues were informed that Zimra wouldn’t issue tax clearance certificates until all QPD payments due December 20 and VAT payments due on December 25 were paid.
“We were not worried as most taxpayers had already made those payments.”
Farmer said on December 18, they were told by the Zimra regional head in Bulawayo, identified as LP Dube that the tax clearance certificates would only be issued on December 27 as they would be issued by the SAPS system.
“He advised that the certificates were supposed to be issued on December 15 but they had met challenges. When I advised him that most companies would be closed he assured me that Zimra would be delivering the tax clearance certificates to each company.
“The question we need answered is what arrangements have Zimra made if the system is still not capable of issuing the certificates? Will they be issuing manual certificates? Why have Zimra not taken out an advertisement advising their taxpayers that tax clearance certificates will only be issued on December 27?”
“What’s going to happen to taxpayers importing fuel who will require that tax clearance certificate during this Christmas period? What’s going to happen to the seller of fresh produce early January 2015?
“If Zimra fails to issue a tax clearance certificate on December 27 will they allow taxpayers to do business for a period without the requirement of a tax clearance certificate?
“Will Zimra manage the situation so taxpayers are not inconvenienced? Will Zimra management liaise with Bulawayo City Council so taxpayers are issued with business licences so they can open shop?
Zimra head of corporate communications Canisio Mudzimu could not be reached for comment as his mobile number was not reachable by the time of going to print yesterday.
Online Reporter