By Ngoni Shumba.
MUTARE – Confederations of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has warned of a government squeeze of business to elicit more revenue as it struggles to stay afloat in crippling liquidity crunch.
Speaking during at a President’s round-table briefing meeting at a city hotel CZI President Busisa Moyo said businesses should brace for Zimra audits as taxmen are being sent out to ensure government closes in on all tax defaulters.
“Zimra is currently visiting companies to investigate and audit their books, checking their tax payment records. You should expect more pressure from Zimra because government needs money,” Moyo said.
The company audits come as the economic climate continues to deteriorate with government hard-pressed to find revenue to pay its unsustainably huge wage bill which is gobbling around 95 percent of all collected revenue.
Zimra has of late been acting on arresting corruption from among its employees and is emerging from a forensic audit which confirmed endemic corruption within the revenue collection body that has cost government millions of dollars.
In a statement accompanying Zimra’s third quarter report for 2016, board chairperson, Willia Bonyongwe said the authority will conduct routine staff lifestyle audits to keep corruption in check.
“Corruption by Zimra officers is costing government a lot of money and it is expected that regular staff audits and other measures to combat corruption will see this revenue head and others improving, other things remaining equal,” she said.
Bonyongwe said while the economy was considered resilient, it could no longer withstand the current levels of corruption.
“The board has an absolute zero tolerance on corruption and this message has been relayed to all officers,” she said.
Bonyongwe said its anti-corruption hotline had unearthed several cases of corruption that yielded potential revenue of more than $23m.
The Corruption Perceptions Index has ranked Zimbabwe number 150 out of 168 countries.
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