A summary of the two percent intermediary electronic transaction tax which was effected by government last year will now be published on the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development website on a monthly basis to improve accountability of the controversial levy, Accountant General, Daniel Muchemwa has revealed.
Announcing the new tax measure, Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube, said proceeds from the levy were critical to infrastructure development as opposed to the general assumption that it would go towards public sector salaries.
Speaking at the Zimbabwe IPSAS meeting today, Muchemwa said there was a need to clarify how the two percent tax was utilized.
“I propose to publish on a monthly basis the general revenue collection and expenditure from the two percent tax. I will have the website with a summary of the two percent levy, how much we have got and how much we have used and where did we use it,” he said.
Initially government had anticipated to reap $50 million in revenue from the tax, but the figures have been encouraging, far exceeding earlier projections.
In January, government realized 98 percent more than projected, and 60 percent more in the month of February.
Muchemwa told 263Chat on the sidelines of the meeting that, government will in the next two months procure 231 ambulances across the country.
“We have agreed as the ministry of finance that those above budget numbers be channeled to social welfare. The budget numbers, to infrastructure, above budget numbers, to education, social welfare and health, and one of the first beneficiaries has to be the procurement of 231 ambulances to be distributed across the entire country,’ said Muchemwa.
The development comes at a time when government has come under scrutiny for running a grotesque public finance management system which has not been clarifying how it’s spending public funds.
The two percent tax endured criticism from several quarters including, civic society and economic experts for being insensitive to the already impoverished Zimbabwean citizenry in its initial months but has since saw its credit ratings rise on the backdrop of essential interventions.
Recently, Minister Ncube said government had donated $50 million towards assisting victims of Cyclone curtesy of the two percent levy.
