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2009 Assessment

Zimbabwe: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Zimbabwe : Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Taxes and Customs
Indicators		Score
61	In law, is there a national tax collection agency?	100
62	Is the tax collection agency effective?	88
63	In practice, are tax laws enforced uniformly and without discrimination?	75
64	In law, is there a national customs and excise agency?	100
65	Is the customs and excise agency effective?	75
66	In practice, are customs and excise laws enforced uniformly and without discrimination?	50

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

In law, is there a national tax collection agency?

61: In law, is there a national tax collection agency?

Score:

YES

Comments: Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA)

References: Zimbabwe Revenue Authority Act

Finance Act 2006

Is the tax collection agency effective?

62a: In practice, the tax collection agency has a professional, full-time staff.

Score:

100

Comments: Generally the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has adequate staff. Like in most sectors of the economy, there has been staff exodus at ZIMRA because of the economic situation in Zimbabwe. ZIMRA also suffers from a lack of expertise to carry out its mandate. However ZIMRA has recently started recruiting personnel to improve services.

References: Munda Thulani, "Zim tax collector ill-equipped to collect revenue", Nov. 6, 2007, [ LINK ]

BusinessZimbabwe.com, "ZIMRA continues recruitment drive - Recruits security personnel", [ LINK ]

62b: In practice, the tax agency receives regular funding.

Score:

100

Comments: ZIMRA is the main source of government funding and usually exceeds its targets. However, ZIMRA receives funding from the Ministry of Finance and in the past, because of the hyper-inflationary environment and unstable economic conditions, it was unable to meet all its requirements. With the introduction of the US$ and the South African Rand, ZIMRA has been able to raise more money.

References: Zimbabwe Revenue Authority Act

Bhebhe Nqobile, "ZIMRA surpasses revenue collection targets", The Zimbabwe Independent, Sept. 10, 2009, [ LINK ]

Nyakazeya Paul and Makamure Lucia, "Zimra workers strike," Zimbabwe Independent, Nov. 23, 2007, [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: While ZimRA is able to collect funds, it has to acknowledge that most of it goes for recurrent expenditures and the authority may have problems sourcing its own equipment and other things.

In practice, are tax laws enforced uniformly and without discrimination?

63: In practice, are tax laws enforced uniformly and without discrimination?

Score:

100

Comments: Tax laws are implemented fairly but there are problems with tax evasion by the informal sector, which forms a major section of the economy. Lax implementation of tax laws has also resulted in the government being prejudiced of income.

References: Zimbabwe Ministry of Finance, May 23, 2009, [ LINK ]

Makoshori Shame, "ZIMRA to descend on Zimplats", Feb. 20, 2009, [ LINK ]

Chifamba Obert, "Zimra steps up revenue, tax compliance checks", July 9, 2009, [ LINK ]

In law, is there a national customs and excise agency?

64: In law, is there a national customs and excise agency?

Score:

YES

Comments: Customs and Excise is housed under the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.

References: Finance Act 2006

Zimbabwe revenue Authority Act

Is the customs and excise agency effective?

65a: In practice, the customs and excise agency has a professional, full-time staff.

Score:

100

Comments: The Customs agency has a full time staff but faced challenges with retaining staff because of the country's poor economic performance. There are some problems caused by changes in policy that result in increased workload for the available staff, especially at border posts.

References: Phiri Gift, "Chaos at border after visa waiver," The Zimbabwe Times, May 16, 2009, [ LINK ]

BusinessZimbabwe.com, "Zimra continues recruitment drive Recruits security personnel", June 22, 2009, [ LINK ]

65b: In practice, the customs and excise agency receives regular funding.

Score:

100

Comments: The agency has regular funding although it faced challenges because of the hyper-inflationary environment.

References: Zimbabwe Ministry of Finance, May 23, 2009, [ LINK ]

In practice, are customs and excise laws enforced uniformly and without discrimination?

66: In practice, are customs and excise laws enforced uniformly and without discrimination?

Score:

100

Comments: Laws apply uniformly in many cases but systems are still not in place to ensure that the law is effective. Generally, customs is still known for the amount of bribery that goes on. There are many cases in which senior government officials evade paying customs duties and are involved in smuggling of goods. There has been a crackdown on small scale informal traders who have evaded paying presumptive tax, but it has been revealed that most smuggling rackets are operated by the elite.

References: Muleya Thupeyo, "Smuggling - Scourge of Beitbridge border post", The Herald, Aug. 19, 2009

Ministry of Finance Zimbabwe

Peer Review Comments: To a great extent, the laws are applied uniformly. The problems may come from the background of a hyper-inflationary environment when it was very difficult to calculate thresholds. As it is now, the smuggling that is taking place is not out of the selected application of the law, but from criminal activity.