Zambian Chamber of Mines warns of tax instability

JOHANNESBURG – More tax regime instability, massive increases, and novel taxes not seen anywhere else in the world, will hurt the mining industry and all those who rely on its success, Zambia Chamber of Mines President Nathan Chishimba said after an emergency meeting of mining companies, the Lusaka Times reported on Thursday.

“Having met as an industry, we are convinced that attracting investment is the only way to grow our economy, and growing our economy – and the base of taxpayers – is Zambia’s route to a prosperous future,” said Chishimba.

“To that end, we had a 10-point plan which we took to government in July, in which we believed we could double the size of copper production, and add a billion dollars a year of fiscal revenue, over the next six years,” he added.

“Unfortunately, our plan has been ignored. Instead, the raft of measures introduced will have exactly the opposite effect. A number of operations will be pushed into loss-making positions and will likely have to scale back.”

“Those already making losses will be pushed further into the red. And some of our members have had to immediately put on hold their expansion plans, which is the lifeblood of future production. Let us be clear, these higher tax rates will not result in more tax revenue. Quite the opposite.

“As industry production shrinks through the impact, there will be less jobs, less taxes and as a result there will be less in the government’s bank account for many years to come,” warned the Chamber of Mines president.

– African News Agency (ANA)