Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has addressed concerns regarding the recently announced taxes in the 2024 National Budget Statement.
Facing heat about the budget being tough on the less fortunate, Minister Ncube was quick to set the record straight, claiming it is pro-poor.
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New Taxes in Zimbabwe’s 2024 National Budget
In the 2024 budget, he proposed several measures, including widening income tax bands and introducing a 1 percent wealth tax on houses and flats valued at US$100,000 or more.
To tackle issues like cheating on excise duties, especially with regards to cigarettes, the minister suggested the creation of a digital platform. Additionally, a levy of US$0.02 per gram on sugar in soft drinks (excluding water) will be implemented starting January 1, 2024.
Multinational companies are now mandated to pay a minimum income tax of 15 percent. Furthermore, tuckshops and traders are required to obtain licenses and tax clearance certificates for direct purchases from manufacturers and wholesalers. Toll fees on major highways will also be increased on major highways.
He singled out the sugar tax insisting it’s a shining example of the government being pro-poor. According to him, the funds raked in from companies will bankroll a cancer fund, earmarked for purchasing and maintaining cancer treatment equipment.
“Really, we’re very pro-poor looking at the impact we are having on the health sector so we say the sugar levy please give us two cents . . . so that we can create a cancer fund. What we are looking for as a Government is to create a cancer fund so that we can buy cancer equipment and so forth. A few weeks ago, we released over US$2 million to buy and upgrade the cancer machines at Parirenyatwa and Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo. So we need that sugar tax to buy gamma knives and deal with cancer in this country.,” Mtuli Ncube said.
Professor Mthuli Ncube also pointed out the allocation of funds to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. He emphasized how the government has constructed over 200 schools and outlined plans to use taxes to build more schools.
Furthermore, Professor Ncube explained why his ministry proposed a range of taxes, stating that they are intended to generate domestic funds. However, he stressed that they will be cautious not to burden Zimbabweans with excessive taxation.
“We need to focus on domestic resource mobilisation even in this budget (2024 fiscal policy statement) because we are trying to deal with the issue of domestic resource mobilisation. That is critically important so if you see us scrunch for the last cent here and there we are trying to do that because we need resources, but we will try to be careful not to squeeze the economy, that’s critically important we don’t want tax fatigue to come out of our measures,” said Prof Ncube.
