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The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has committed to strengthen collaboration with civil society organisations in enhancing domestic revenue mobilisation in the country.
ZRA Commissioner General, Dingani Banda, said he was confident that the authority and Civil society organisations would togther encourage voluntary tax compliance among the Zambian tax payers.
Banda said at a consultative meeting in Lusaka on Tuesday that with a consortium of civil society organizations, the collaboration was expected to reduce any information gaps about taxation that may exist among stakeholders.
“We want to speak the same language and formulate a common approach to issues at local and most importantly at global level,” he said.
He said ZRA was pleased to have the engagement with civil society because they were known to be a key ingredient to any growth process.
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Banda said civil society was an important information source for both citizens and the government and played a key role in holding institutions such as ZRA accountable in the execution of their mandate.
He said civil society advocates alternative solutions to policy work to uphold accessible society practices.
Banda said ZRA usually had quarterly engagements with stakeholders and had committed to add civil society organization to the engagements.
ActionAid Zambia, Country Director, Andrew Chikowere thanked ZRA for calling for the meeting because it demonstrated their commitment to engage with stakeholders and embrace diversity and inclusiveness for enhanced tax revenue collection.
He said the meeting followed several cross-section engagements capacity secession and Media statement on international taxation involving the organisation that were present.
Chikowere said the engagement created an opportunity to discuss and explore how Zambia could enhance revenue collection and other sectors such as civil society organizations who support the cause.
He said they believe that tax revenue collection should be conducted in a progressive manner, when those who earn more like multi-corporation pay more as their contribution to the tax regime and lessen the burden of multiple tax on individual citizens through pay as you earn and other levies.
Chikowere said they hoped through the engagements they would engage and agree on how best they would embrace tax justice in Zambia, double taxation agreements, profit shifting domestic resource mobilization.
“We believe that this engagement is timely because annual budget consultations at the ministry of finance are ongoing and this presents an opportunity for meaningful interventions on tax issues,” he said.
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