By CHATULA KANGALI –
THE Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has so far raised more than K93 million during the tax amnesty introduced  last month.
Last month, ZRA waived interest and penalties for taxpayers with outstanding returns and tax debt.
ZRA Public Relations Manager Topsy Sikalinda said the authority received over K93 million in the first 10 days of the tax amnesty period.
Mr Sikalinda said in an interview that ZRA also received about 4,500 applications from tax payers for payment of principal tax.
He said the response from tax payers to clear outstanding arrears without penalties and interest was overwhelming.
“The response from tax payers has been great. So far, the authority has received K93 million and 4,500 applications during the first 10 days of the tax amnesty,” he said.
Mr Sikalinda said despite the tax amnesty, the authority was still collecting taxes as it was mandated to do so.
He said ZRA was targeting to raise about K2.5 million during the amnesty period and urged tax payers with or without outstanding arrears to pay tax on time.
Mr Sikalinda said ZRA introduced the tax amnesty which would run from April 24 to July 31, this year,  following  complaints from nine suppliers who accrued a lot of  interests and penalties due to delayed payments.
He said the tax amnesty was enforced   because some tax payers had challenges to migrate to the online electronic payment and others that failed to pay.
Mr Sikalinda said after the given window period, ZRA would enforce the law and introduce the penalties and interest to defaulting tax payers.
The tax amnesty which runs from April 24 to July 31 would not apply to cases under litigation and investigations, interest and penalties arising from audit and investigations, relating to property transfer tax, penalties relating to custom duty and those determined by the court.
During this period, tax payers are expected to submit outstanding returns and pay all principal tax liability for a tax period   prior to March 1, this year.