By KENNEDY MUPESENI –
A CONSORTIUM of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has urged Government to strengthen tax collection mechanisms to meet budget revenue expectations.
And Government says it is committed to align domestic mineral policy and legislation to be in line with continental and international standards.
Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Copperbelt chapter coordinator Vincent Lengwe said illicit financial flows figures in the country were alarming, hence the need to seal tax loopholes.
“Illicit flows such as tax evasion and avoidance are rampant.  According to reports, the country has been losing approximately US$3 billion annually from corporate tax avoidance,” Mr Lengwe said.
He said this during Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD) sponsored community engagement on tax and natural resource governance gaps in Kitwe at the weekend.
The meeting drew participation from the mining communities of Kitwe, Luanshya, Kalulushi and Chingola among others.
He said most mining conglomerates have allegedly been reporting losses for over 10 years as reason for not paying the required taxes.
Mr Lengwe indicated that the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) in its trend report of 2015 reported that tax evasion accounted for 22 per cent of suspicious transactions mainly attributed to commercial mining.
He reiterated that Government should quickly domesticate mechanisms like the African Mining Vision (AMV) for the country to get more benefits from the natural resources.
The AMV recommends for a flexible self adjusting resource tax regime that responds to both commodity booms and recessions.
It also asks countries to develop systems to valuate components of tax regimes for leakages, losses and tax evasion among others.
Kitwe District Commissioner Chanda Kabwe reiterated Government’s  resolve to integrate regional and international tax standards into domestic policies to realise maximum benefits from natural resources.
“Government is aware of various efforts by CSOs and other stakeholders  in ensuring that our domestic mineral policy and legislation is consistence with continental and international standards that is the reason efforts are being made to domesticate some of them,” Mr Kabwe said.