LUSAKA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in Zambia on Tuesday extended an amnesty meant to allow defaulting taxpayers clear their arrears.
In April, the country's tax agency, the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), issued a tax amnesty on interest and penalties from late returns and payments on all tax liabilities.
The amnesty allowed taxpayers to have a 100 percent waiver on interests and penalties provided the principal tax is paid in full by July 31, 2017.
But there has been an outcry from the business community stakeholders to extend the amnesty to allow many of them enroll.
Minister of Finance Felix Mutati said the government has decided to extend the amnesty for another one month following the outcry from stakeholders to August 31, 2017.
"I wish to take this opportunity to encourage members of the public to take full advantage of this extension and not wait for the last minute to put their tax affairs in order. ZRA must ensure that all taxpayers with issues on their tax accounts are attended to before the new deadline, after which enforcement action should be instituted against all taxpayers with liabilities on their accounts," he said in a statement released by his ministry.
The Zambian minister said the government was in a hurry to improve revenue collection which currently stands at 55 percent and called on stakeholders for cooperation.
