Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD) executive director Isaac Mwaipopo has observed that some processes of paying tax to the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) remain too cumbersome and frustrating to clients.

And Mwaipopo regrets that tax paying in Zambia is not as easy is should be because Zambian tax payers are still subjected to unnecessary bureaucracies like cues among other things which he said can create an environment that might lead to bad vices such as corruption among tax payers who would not want to spend a lot of time cuing up just to pay tax.

Commenting on the long queues that most tax payers especially motorists have been experiencing since Tuesday, Mwaipopo advised government through ZRA to implement measures that would make the payment of tax a lot simpler and convenient for everyone.

“The Center for Trade Policy and Development would like to urge the Zambia Revenue Authority to expedite the process of implementing measures that are aimed at enhancing tax collection. We appreciate on one hand that the institution has continued to report that it is actually collecting taxes beyond the targets that have been set. We think that the institution can actually do much more. We have continued to observe that the paying of certain taxes such as Road Tax is actually still quite cumbersome, there are a number of road users and citizens that have actually raised concerns that they would have to stand for as long as three to four hours in some of the pay-points, just for them to pay the tax,” Mwaipopo said.

He said paying tax was not supposed to frustrate people.

“This is not supposed to be the case and we think that paying of tax should actually be very easy and very convenient. It shouldn’t be something that should be very frustrating for the citizens as it might end up creating an environment that might lead to bad vices such as corruption; as many road users might not want to spend a lot of time queuing up just to pay tax. It is very important that measures are put in place so that we create an environment where paying of such taxes is more simplified,” said Mwaipopo.