By Goromondo News Reporter
The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) and the Zimbabwe Taxpayers’ Platform (ZITAP) have raised objections to the continued financial strain being put on Harare residents by the City‘s council at a time when there is clear fiscal abuse of revenue collected.
The introduction of the new levies for water infrastructure, street lighting, and ambulances has raised the ire of the residents associations who have come out scathing against council and central Government.
They note that Council should first account for what the residents are already parting with and also make use of other possible revenue streams which do not burden already struggling residents.
“The levies introduce double taxation as we believe revenue is being collected which could pay for the purported expenditure. Particularly, we note that revenue being collected for water rates is not being ringfenced for the service, resulting in it being open to abuse or diversion to non-priority expenditure,” wrote the two associations in a statement signed off by their leaders.
“We, CHRA and ZITAP, note that other sources of funding exist that could be used for infrastructure development in particular Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers (IGFTs) commonly known as devolution funds which are mandatory under Section 301 (3) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.”
With many crying that Zimbabwe is already over taxing struggling citizens , the CHRA and ZITAP have both noted this overburdening of their constituent highlighting the litany of taxes residents are already dealing with.
“Since 2018, the country has witnessed the introduction of a gamut of taxes, including the Intermediated Money Transfer Tax (IMTT), the sugar tax, fees on repatriation of deceased persons, and the recently proposed tax on airtime.While the Minister of Finance, Prof. Mthuli Ncube, announced plans to cut the country’s taxes and regulatory fees for businesses within six months, the tax burden on ordinary citizens continues to mount at different tiers of government.”
The parties have thus made a raft of recommendations to the Harare City Council and central Government as follows:
- The City of Harare must stop introducing the proposed levies and prioritise expenditure from its current revenue streams, and improve collection efficiency on existing levies, rates and tariffs
- The central government must stop interfering in the running of the city, including transferring revenue collection and service delivery mandates from the city to parastatals like the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) and private companies.
- The central government, particularly the Ministry of Finance, must equitably share revenue raised nationally between the central government and local tiers of government for local authorities to invest in capital expenditure and infrastructure, including the 5% devolution funds mandated by Sections 298(1)(b)(i) and (ii), and 301(3) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
- The proposed tax reform by the Minister of Finance should consider lessening the tax burden on ordinary citizens.
