Ncube’s original proposal, which he made in the 2022
national budget, triggered a public outcry.
But during the debate on the Finance Bill in the Senate on
Tuesday, Ncube said the US$50 levy was a mechanis
“When it comes to other electronic gadgets, we have
actually reduced the duty to zero. The only duty remaining is the 25% duty on
phones. So what is the problem we trying
to solve? The problem we are trying to
solve is that no duty of 25% is being paid by anyone who is bringing phones
into the country. Why? Because these are small gadgets, you put them
in your pocket or wherever in your handbag and you pass through the
border. No duty is paid.
“We are not collecting anything. What we are trying to do is to design a
mechanism that can enforce the payment of the 25% duty, hence this 50%
levy. It is only payable if you cannot
prove that you have paid the 25% duty.
So it is not a duty, it is an enforcement mechanism to enforce the payment
of the duty which already exists in the first place.”
Senator Chief Ndlovu proposed that the Finance ministry
should scrap off the levy or lower the payable levy as citizens were having
challenges to reclaim the funds they would have paid to the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority (Zimra).
“We do realise that once the duty is paid to Zimra, the
proposal is that the person who is paying has to go and claim the US$50 from
Zimra. You realise that it is going to cause challenges to the poorest in the
community, some of whom will be in rural areas. To try and recover US$50 from
Zimra is a huge challenge. We know the challenges that we have with Zimra even
if you are looking at companies that have got millions of dollars, they
struggle and it is going to be worse for someone who is travelling from rural
areas to come and claim a US$50 fee that would have been imposed on them,” he
said. Newsday
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