Zimra sets income tax returns deadline

Published: 13 August 2013

THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) has set September 30 as the deadline for the submission of income tax returns for individuals and companies for the year-ended December 2012.

Income tax is the amount that governments impose on financial income generated by all entities within their jurisdiction. By law, businesses and individuals must file an income tax return every year to determine whether they owe any taxes or are eligible for a tax refund.

"The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority hereby gives notice in terms of the Income Tax Act chapter 23:06 to all persons or representative taxpayers who were registered for trade, or who received income or to whom income accrued from a source within or deemed to be within Zimbabwe, that they are required to submit income tax returns for the year ended December 31 2012," reads a Zimra statement in part.

Zimra said failure to submit the income tax returns by September 30 2013 would attract a heavy penalty.

"There will be no extension to the date given in this notice that is, September 30, 2013 for the submission of these returns. Penalties in terms of the Revenue Authority (civil penalties for late submission of returns, regulations, SI 97 of 2013 will be levied where the return remains outstanding after the 30th September 2013," Zimra said in the statement.

According to Zimra, gross collections for the second quarter stood at $873, 6 million, while net collections were $836,9 million, against a target of $886,2 million.

Net collections for the first six months of the year, according to the official figures, stood at $1,66 billion against a target of $1,67 billion.

Zimra said while the 2013 first quarter target was surpassed by 5%, the second quarterly target was missed by 6%, resulting in the first half target being slightly missed by 1%.

Value added tax contributed the bulk of the revenue at 31% of total collections during the period under review, followed by income tax on individuals (21%) and excise duty at 14%.

Company tax collections had a 10% variance on the $205,8 million target due to subdued performance of the local manufacturing sector.
- newsday