Business
ZRA tightens tax clearance rules for businesses over tax registration gaps
Zambia’s tax authority has tightened controls on the issuance and renewal of Tax Clearance Certificates (TCCs), blocking businesses whose taxpayer identification numbers (TPINs) were not linked to the tax types applicable to their operations. Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) Manager for Corporate Communications, Oliver Nzala, said…
Picture: Zambia Monitor
Zambia’s tax authority has tightened controls on the issuance and renewal of Tax Clearance Certificates (TCCs), blocking businesses whose taxpayer identification numbers (TPINs) were not linked to the tax types applicable to their operations.
Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) Manager for Corporate Communications, Oliver Nzala, said the measures were aimed at curbing tax evasion, illicit financial flows and the misuse of companies to conduct undeclared commercial activities.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Nzala said ZRA had observed that some businesses registered with the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) obtained TPINs but failed to register for the taxes applicable to their operations.
While some of the businesses remained inactive, investigations had found that others continued conducting commercial activities without corresponding tax accounts with ZRA, he said.
“Of particular concern is that, in some cases, such entities may be used as shell companies or conduits for transactions intended to conceal taxable activity, facilitate tax evasion or enable illicit financial flows,” Nzala said.
Lakatips
For Zambian newsrooms
Your reporting, credited and linked back
Join the newsrooms whose work reaches readers through Lakatips — your name on every story, and a route straight back to you.
He said the trend had also been identified through analysis of Suspicious Transaction Reports submitted by the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), which indicated that some businesses holding TPINs were involved in financial transactions without the appropriate tax registrations.
Under the new controls, businesses whose TPINs are not linked to the relevant tax types will not be issued or allowed to renew TCCs until they regularise their tax registration and meet their tax obligations.
Nzala said the measures were intended to protect the credibility of the TCC as evidence that a business was properly registered and compliant with its tax obligations.
The certificate is used in commercial, regulatory and public procurement transactions, making safeguards against its misuse important, he said.
The controls are also expected to help ZRA identify businesses operating without required tax registrations, detect potential shell-company arrangements and improve the integrity of the taxpayer register.
Nzala urged businesses registered through PACRA to review their tax status and ensure they were registered for all tax types applicable to their operations.
He said businesses holding TPINs but lacking the relevant tax registrations should regularise their status with ZRA.
Nzala clarified that the measures applied only to business-related TPINs obtained through PACRA registration and do not affect individuals holding TPINs in their personal capacity.
WARNING! All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express permission from ZAMBIA MONITOR.
Source: Zambia Monitor — Read more
More to read
All Business →
Zambia Revenue Authority eyes K203.6 billion through compliance drive
The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) could raise its 2026 revenue collections by K34 billion to K203.6 billion if taxpayer compliance improves by 20 percent, Commissioner General Dingani Banda has said. Banda said ZRA was currently projected to collect K169.6 billion by the end of 2026…
Zambia Revenue Authority signs deal for advanced cargo scanner at Livingstone border
The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has signed an agreement with United States-based technology company Astrophysics Inc. to install an advanced X-ray cargo scanning system at the Livingstone Border Post as part of efforts to strengthen border security and facilitate trade. Lusaka, 25 August
ZRA donates seized cooking oil
JOHN CHAAMBWA Lusaka ZAMBIA Revenue Authority (ZRA) has donated 1,200 units of 20-litre cooking oil seized from smugglers to various hospitals and charitable institutions in Lusaka. The cooking oil, which was declared fit for human consumption by the Lusaka City Council public health unit, was…