Mahere Urges Mthuli To Avoid New Taxes, Present Budget In USD

3 weeks agoThu, 28 Nov 2024 12:11:50 GMT

Mahere Urges Mthuli To Avoid New Taxes, Present Budget In USD

Former Member of Parliament for Mt Pleasant, Fadzayi Mahere (CCC), has urged the Minister of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion, Mthuli Ncube, to present the 2025 National Budget in US dollars instead of the ZiG currency, which is prone to depreciation.

Ncube is expected to announce the budget this Thursday, November 28, at the New Parliament in Mt Hampden.

Mahere also advised Ncube to avoid introducing new taxes. Instead, she suggested reducing or removing VAT on small businesses, the 2% tax on banking transactions, the sugar tax, and import duties on basic goods. Said Mahere:

BUDGET WARNING: Today Mthuli Ncube will make his 2025 Budget Statement. The biggest mistake he can make would be to announce tax increases on an already shrinking tax base. Instead, he should do the following:

Announce tax incentives (especially for corporations) to encourage compliance;

Reduce the corporate tax rate remove the unnecessary VAT on small businesses to stimulate productivity;

Find ways to widen the tax base as opposed to squeezing the few who pay tax;

Reduce toll fees and fuel levies to reduce the overall cost of goods;

Remove or reduce the 2% tax on banking transactions to reduce the overall cost of doing business;

Remove the sugar tax;

Remove or reduce the ridiculous property tax;

Remove import duty on basic goods to decrease the overall cost of living;

Remove obstacles on trade between manufacturers and retail suppliers;

State the budget in realistic USD figures so that it’s not a circus of announcing meaningless figures that are certain to devalue and which will in most instances never be disbursed.