ZRA ASSURES EVIDENCE-BASED REFORMS AS GOVERNMENT PLACES SPECIAL FOCUS ON DRM

International Growth Centre (IGC), with support from the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and the London School of Economics and Political Science has held a conference in Lusaka themed ‘Taxing Smarter: Evidence-based Approaches to National and Local Revenue in Zambia.

IGC and ZRA have a long-standing partnership that spans over 10 years.

The conference has been conducted against the background of changing priorities for international partners and the increasing importance of Domestic Resource Mobilisation (DRM).

‘Why Domestic Resource Mobilisation Matters’ was the title of the key note address delivered by IGC Research Advisor, Professor Nada Eissa from the University of Georgetown. Professor Eissa said taxation is key to state development, stressing that excessive reliance on non-tax revenue sources can be detrimental to a country’s long-run development path.

Speaking earlier, Kusobile Kamwambi, the Head of the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) in Zambia, said government has placed special focus on domestic resource mobilisation to enhance the nation’s ability to fund development from within.

She described the conference as an important platform for stakeholders to address key issues, including the formalization and capture of the informal sector into the tax net and strengthening of tax enforcement and compliance through the use of data and digital tools.

Ms. Kamwambi added that there was need to instill public trust and confidence in the tax system, to enhance voluntary compliance. She also appreciated efforts by ZRA to leverage technology in tax administration and stressed the importance of an effective and fair tax system.

“Technology alone cannot solve our problems, it must move in tandem with institutional reforms, the powerful enabler,” she said.

Meanwhile the ZRA Commissioner General, Dingani Banda, who was the Guest of Honour at the conference said collaboration with partners has enabled the Authority’s reform agenda with high-quality and actionable research, critical in addressing challenges faced in tax Administration.

The Commissioner General assured that ZRA remained committed to deepening collaboration with research institutions and partners to ensure reforms are evidence-based and aligned with Zambia’s development priorities

He said ZRA had positioned itself as a centre of analysis, innovation and responsiveness to address challenges such as widening the tax base, effective taxation of the informal sector and improving voluntary compliance.

Mr. Banda reiterated the Authority’s resolve to closing knowledge and compliance gaps through robust taxpayer education and proactive stakeholder engagements.

“We understand that to tax Smarter means not just collecting more, but doing so fairly, efficiently and transparently. It requires understanding taxpayer behavior, leveraging data effectively and building public trust in the tax system,” he said.