Zim revenue down as economic woes deepen

Harare - Zimbabwe missed its revenue targets for the quarter ended September 30 2014 as the country’s economic prospects continue to wane.
 
According to the latest report by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), net revenue collections for the period amounted to US$884.5m against a target of $972.3m, resulting in a negative variance of 9%.
 
Most of the revenue was realised from Value Added Tax (VAT) which contributed $250.2m, followed by individual tax and excise duty which contributed $226.2m and $122.9m respectively.
 
Zimra said the poor revenue performance can be attributed to liquidity challenges that negatively affected the ability of companies to finance and recapitalise their operations.
 
"The depressed performance of Corporate Income Tax is also due to the harsh economic environment which negatively affected the profitability of local companies," said Zimra.

The miniscule revenues being generated by the country means that very little will be invested in capital formation and infrastructure development, since the bulk of the revenue of about 70% is used to pay salaries for government workers.
 
 - Fin24