ZNFU and Tobacco Association of Zambia (TAZ) on Friday 19th February 2016, afternoon met the Commissioner for Domestic Taxes, Mrs Banda at the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) head office in Lusaka to push for the extension of the VAT offset system on tobacco.
ZNFU and TAZ appealed to ZRA to grant the VAT offset system in order to protect the subsector from collapsing as a result of an unfavourable tax regime that makes Zambian tobacco expensive compared to other countries in the region such as Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique. ZRA was also informed during the meeting that tobacco subsector is currently employing over 40,000 people and is a major contributor of forex to the national treasury.
In response, ZRA indicated that they will look into the issues raised over the request for extension of VAT offset arrangement and would provide feedback to the Union in due course
