Government Moves To Increase Mineral Tax Revenue

The Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development has announced changes to tax policy that it hopes will improve revenue collection. Starting from 1st July 2020, the Ministry will no longer accept mineral samples sent by exporters in order to issue export permits. Instead the Ministry will send inspectors to mine sites and traders warehouses to collect samples itself.

Under the current system, exporters submit mineral samples to a laboratory at the Geological Survey Department in Lusaka, allowing the mines ministry to issue a valuation certificate for the entire mineral export consignment. 

However, Ministry Permanent Secretary Barnaby Mulenga now says that the system is liable to corruption, with some exporters deliberately submitting low-grade samples to the lab in order to have their consignments undervalued and thus pay less tax.

Mr Mulenga said this could amount to hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in lost revenue, depending on the discrepancy between the submitted sample and the consignment itself.

Instead, officers from the ministry will now inspect mine sites and traders’ warehouses to collect the required samples themselves, rather than relying on samples submitted by exporters. 

Mr Mulenga said that in order to facilitate a smooth transition to the new process, all exporters are required to ensure that their applications for export permits are received by the ministry at least one week before the sampling officers visit each region. 

Export applications should clearly state where the consignments to be sampled are located, along with the applicants’ physical address and other contact details.