The Zambia chamber of mines has disclosed that the majority of mines are impacted by the new tax regime which has affected the import duties for concentrate imported from the Democratic Republic of Congo-DRC and that a lot of mines would be adversely effected because of circumstances surrounding the new tax bands.
Chamber of mines Chief executive officer Sokwani Chilembo said the new tax regime that was presented by minister of finance during the presentation of the 2019 budget in parliament will break the back of Zambia’s economy by shrinking productions in the mining industry and impact on work force hence result to less resources in the government’s revenue accounts.
Chilembo told Zambia Business Times-ZBT in March 2019 in an interview the tax regime has negatively effected the mining industry and those who rely on it success by negatively affecting their operations.
“We made submission to government to engage us and consider some proposals on import duties, Mineral Royalty Tax- MRT and the non-deductibility of MRT, however, we hope that government will engage us soon and find a positive way forward, “ he said.
He added that the Mineral Royalty Tax-MRT which has increased by between 25% and 67% across the different tax bands will double the taxation and takes no account of the need for re-investment in exploration and expansion.
Chilembo further said government has made a good decision to postponed the implementation of the sale tax adding that the bill should this time clearly state its rates and how it will be implemented.
