Youths urged to push for wealth tax in 2027 Budget

YOUNG Zimbabweans have been urged to use the 2027 National Budget consultations to push for higher taxes on wealthy individuals, mining companies and large corporations to raise revenue for social and economic development.

The call was made by Fight Inequality Alliance (FIA) Zimbabwe national coordinator Nqobizitha Mlambo during an Inequality Cafe in Bulawayo, where young people were educated on the country’s budget-making process.

The 2027 budget formulation process is already underway, with Treasury inviting stakeholders, including members of the public, civil society organisations, businesses and labour groups, to submit proposals for the 2027 Budget Strategy Paper.

Participants at the Inequality Cafe called for the creation of a climate and disaster resilience fund within the devolution fund to support vulnerable and marginalised communities.

They also called for the timely disbursement of funds to ministries, reduced taxes, improved health services and better hospital infrastructure.

The youths further called for improved roads funded through taxation and a fairer tax system in which larger companies contribute more towards the country’s revenue needs.

Mlambo said young people should go beyond demanding increased spending on health, education and social services and also question how government would raise the revenue needed to fund those priorities.

“It’s not enough to just write down our budget asks as Zimbabweans. But the most important thing is to speak to two things which are key for a budget. The revenue side and the expenditure side,” Mlambo said.

“Beyond saying we want to see money for healthcare, which is important, money for education, which is important, money for social services, which is important, we should also be speaking about where the money is supposed to come from.”

He urged young people to use forthcoming public consultations to push for changes to the country’s taxation system.

Mlambo said more taxes should be levied on wealthy individuals and large businesses, particularly mining companies, which he accused of extracting significant mineral wealth while contributing relatively little in taxes.

“Our emphasis was that there should be taxation. More taxation for the rich, more taxation for the conglomerates, corporates and mining companies who are extracting a lot of mineral value and wealth from our economy, but paying little in taxes,” he said.

He urged youths participating in the consultations to call on Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube to increase the tax contribution of mining companies to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), arguing that the additional revenue could help fund socio-economic rights provided for under Chapter 4 of the Constitution.

Mlambo also called for the budget to support the reindustrialisation of Bulawayo, which was once the country’s industrial hub.

He said government should adequately fund the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) so that it could provide affordable financing to struggling and closed industries.

“If the IDBZ is fully funded, it will be in a position to give cheap loans, what we call concessionary loans, to struggling or closed industries, so that the city, in particular, there is reindustrialisation and we have our young people into manufacturing, into factories,” Mlambo said.

The alliance also raised concerns about Zimbabwe’s public debt, which Mlambo put at around US$23 billion owed to international creditors.

He said the 2027 National Budget should clearly outline how government intends to address the country’s debt and arrears without increasing the tax burden on citizens or compromising social services.

“One of the problems with our debt is the interest and arrears since 2000 when we defaulted on IMF loans, the national budget should speak about the clear debt and arrears clearance project or plan that the government will come in place with that will not see the increase in taxes for people and not a prioritization of social services,” he said.

Mlambo said the Inequality Cafe was intended to equip young people with knowledge of the budget-making process and the laws governing public finances.

The discussions drew on the Constitution, the Public Finance Management Act and the Public Debt Management Act, which he said were important pieces of legislation for citizens seeking to understand and participate in national financial decisions.

He said citizen participation in the budget process was a constitutional right and urged young people to take part in upcoming consultations.

Parliament’s Budget Office says it facilitates citizen engagement in the budget formulation process through nationwide consultations and feedback meetings.