Speaking at a Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) and parliamentarians workshop in Harare yesterday, Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda called on Zimra to impose a 150%tax on secondhand vehicles to recover foreign currency that would have been used to buy the cars.
Said Mudenda:
You have muscle. Look at all used vehicles that have been coming into the country, taking foreign currency to bring in second-hand vehicles that are parked all over the country. Every corner of Harare, you see these parked vehicles — that is parked foreign currency that has been allowed to go out. What is stopping Zimra from saying ‘if you bring [in] a second-hand vehicle, you pay 120%, 150% of the value of that vehicle in foreign currency? So what went out whether illegally or formally, as they come in, charge them 150% customs duty, you will recover your money, you will recover Zimbabwe’s foreign currency. And for the Japanese, Zimbabwe has become a very big warehouse of second-hand vehicles and after 20 years, where will they get the spare parts from?
More: NewsDay