The Zambia Revenue Authority has warned that the extended deadline for bank account holders to register for a Tax Payer Identification Number (TPIN) to the end of this year is final.

Speaking during a press briefing, Thursday, ZRA Commissioner General Kingsley Chanda cautioned that the extended deadline, which was pushed back to December 31, 2018, will be final.

He, therefore, advised all bank account holders who are still yet to register for a TPIN to take advantage of the remaining six-month period and apply or risk running into conflict with the law.

“This extension shall be final and all affected persons must take advantage and get registered. The deadline we set (in consultation with stakeholders such as the Bankers Association of Zambia) is for the affected taxpayers to ensure that they comply with the new requirement to avoid being in conflict with the law,” Chanda told journalists in Lusaka.

“It must be emphasized that this deadline only applies to persons who already had bank accounts at the time the law was amended to require bank account holders to have a TPIN. This deadline does not apply to persons opening new accounts as banks and financial institutions already require a TPIN before any new account is opened.”

He stressed that the ZRA had no intensions of using the TPINs as a means of intruding in people’s private financial transactions.

“As we have always emphasized, the objective of the TPIN registration is not to intrude into people’s private financial transactions as ZRA’s mandate does not extend to such. The objective of TPIN registration is to ensure that there is an inclusive and comprehensive tax register in the country. It is in this regard that all banks and financial institutions are also required to demand a TPIN for opening and maintaining an account,” Chanda added.

“Taxpayers who obtained their TPINs must ensure they deliver these to their respective banks as soon as possible. It is gratifying to note that since the inclusion of banking and financial institutions to the list of institutions that should require their clients to register for TPIN as a precondition for their service, ZRA has registered a total of 686,129 taxpayers.”

And in outlining the revenue authority’s performance during the first half of the year, Chanda said ZRA collected K23.2 billion in net taxes, marginally exceeding a collection target of K21.8 billion.

“During the period 1st January to 30th June, 2018, the authority collected K27.7 billion in gross taxes, with refunds amounting to K4.5 billion. This resulted in a net collection of K23.2 billion, which was K1.4 billion or 6.4 percent above target of K21.8 billion. This performance was largely attributed to the strong outturn of domestic and import VAT during the period under review owing to the successful implementation of key administrative and policy measures,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Chanda disclosed that the ZRA paid out K4.2 billion in VAT refunds during the period under review, with around K2.5 billion of that amount paid out to the mining sector, while K1.7 billion was paid out to other sectors in the economy.