Zambia Revenue Authority reveals over 33000 vehicles have been discovered not to have matching records of customs clearance between the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA).

ZRA Acting Corporate Communications Manager Oliver Nzala said this was after the authority carried out an exercise to verify if motor vehicles registered at RTSA from 1st January 2015 to 31st October 2021 are also registered on the ZRA AsycudaWorld and paid taxes.

Mr. Nzala noted the exercise established that about 33,045 registered motor vehicles at RTSA do not have matching records of Customs clearance at ZRA indicating that this may be due to wrongly captured details such as the chassis number or simply there was no clearance with Customs.

“Therefore, these vehicles are of interest to the ZRA,” he stated.

Mr, Nzala emphasized that if the taxpayer had no proof of customs clearance, then the vehicle is of interest to the Authority.

He urged them to visit the nearest ZRA Port or Border to normalize the process and pay the taxes.

He announced that members of the public have been given up to 31st August 2022 to ensure that Customs clearance is done with the Authority.

“The Authority will not charge penalties and interest for voluntary compliance,” He said.

Mr. Nzala however stated that after the announced period, the Authority would engage in enforcement activities to recover unpaid taxes and this may result in interest and penalties being charged in addition to taxes or even forfeiture of the vehicle to the State.