THE Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) has offered a timely and well-reasoned intervention on Zambia’s ongoing tax reform efforts, specifically the Zambia Revenue Authority’s (ZRA) decision to suspend the Withholding Value Added Tax (WVAT) mechanism in favour of the Smart Invoicing System. In every respect, CSPR’s critique is on point. Not only is the call to completely decommission WVAT long overdue, but their concerns about the premature confidence placed in Smart Invoicing are well explained. CSPR is right to argue that simply suspending WVAT is insufficient. ZRA’s announcement, made on the heels of its proclaimed success with Smart Invoicing, falls short of confronting the systemic and practical failures that plagued the WVAT mechanism from the start. From inception, WVAT...