The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has published a statement following the announcement made by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development on 22 November 2018 during his budget statement. In the budget the Minister designated certain products, whose duties, taxes, fees and levies shall be paid in foreign currency upon importation.
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Here are a few things you need to thoroughly know and understand:
- The person obtains an approval for exemption from the Regional Manager within forty-two days, which period starts from 22 November 2018 to 3 January 2019.
- According to the notice by Zimra, it seems only goods which have been imported before the 22nd of November but have not yet paid duty MAY apply for that exemption.
- A point to note is the confusing statement by ZIMRA that all goods liable to foreign currency duties warehoused in either state warehouse or bonded warehouse shall pay duty in foreign currency. One wonders then which type of goods are actually exempted from paying in foreign currency. These goods might have been put there way before the announcement of the budget.
- Motor vehicle imported under the suspension of duty for the physically handicapped persons, VAT payable shall be exempt from the provisions of the Statutory Instrument 252 A of 2018.
- The person/company seeking the exemption writes a letter to the station manager requesting the exemption. NOTE: The approval seems not to be automatic, as the discretion seems to come from the regional manager on a case by case basis.
- The following documents need to be availed to support the case for exemption approval:
- The written application through the station manager requesting for exemption.
- The Receipt for Items Held (R.I.H). “This is a document given by ZIMRA that your goods have been detained by ZIMRA and will be released in future after certain obligations have been met. Such obligations can include payment of duty, production of a licence, production of an invoice etc.”
- Bill of entry if already processed. “A bill of entry is a document that gives an account of goods that would have either been imported or exported detailing information such as the merchant, quantity of goods, their type, and place of origin or destination and the duties to be paid. its usually prepared by an agent on behalf of an individual or company.”
- Notice of Seizure. “This is a document issued by Zimra when an importer has committed an offence that warrants goods to be seized. Offenses include smuggling, under declaration, false declaration, bribery etc”
- Postal Detention Notice. “This is document issued by Zimra usually stationed at the Post Office to an importer who would have imported goods via the post office. It seems means goods have been detained pending a certain outcome”
- Invoice for the goods / Till Slip.
- Proof of payment being telegraphic transfer or bank statement
- Proof of travel if applicable
- Proof of consignment such as Airway bill, bill of lading Rail Advise, Road consignment note/Manifest etc. and any other relevant supporting transaction documents.
My humble opinion is that the exemption most people have in their minds is different from the one ZIMRA in their article were talking about. If there is anyone who got exemptions using this process kindly leave a comment below and let others know the process.
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