Sales Tax Forum Postponed

The Minister of Finance, Mrs Margaret Mwanakatwe, MP, will hold an engagement meeting this Friday with industry players at which she will give out full details on Sales Tax. In this regard we rescheduled the Sales Tax Forum to Tuesday 7th May, 2019 from 09:00hrs to 11:00hrs at Protea Lusaka Tower Hotel.

As you may be aware, earlier this month the Sales Tax Bill N.A.B.7, 2019 passed first reading in Parliament. This Bill has a number of objectives such as providing for the registration and de-registration of taxable suppliers; provide for the use of electronic devices, equipment or any other devices; provide for the collection of Sales Tax; repeal and replace the Value Added Tax Act, 1995; and provide for matters connected with, or incidental to, the foregoing.
The Second reading of the Sales Tax Bill is anticipated to be sometime in June. Currently, the Sales Tax Bill has been referred to the Joint committee comprising the Budget Committee and the Committee on Economic affairs, Trade and Labour Matters for scrutiny. As Part of the Consultative Process, the Committee resolved to request ZACCI to appear before them on 15th May, 2019.
The Government now intends to implement Sales Tax on the 1st July 2019. With many concerns still unaddressed over the implementation and ramifications of the Sales Tax, ZACCI is proactively playing its role of advocacy to ease private sector fears, remedy possible flaws in the legislation and constructively provide perspective for public officials to consider in its implementation.