THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) has pounced on Gweru City Council bank accounts to garnish over ZWG3 million in unpaid tax, a senior council official has revealed.
Speaking during an ordinary council meeting yesterday, mayor Martin Chivhoko said the garnish order had effected transactions at the local authority.
He said Zimra garnished their bank accounts last Tuesday over ZWG3 257 810 arrears in respect of pay as your earn and value-added tax.
“We have not been able to transact since the placement of the garnish order to date. As of Friday last week, a total of ZWG2 159 858,83 had been transferred from our accounts to Zimra in compliance with the garnish order,” he said.
Chivhoko said since the introduction of the Zimbabwe Gold currency, council had been facing financial challenges, with the creditors bill mounting.
“Creditors have been accumulating, with the three major creditors ZETDC [Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company], Zimra and LAPF [Local Authorities Pension Fund] owed a combined total of ZWG26 948 768 as at May 31, 2024,” he said.
“The creditors have started taking action to recover the outstanding amounts. We thus encourage debtors to pay their bills.
“Our debtors as at end of May 2024 amounted to ZWG143 797 086 and among these debtors, we are owed ZWG17 780 330 by government departments.”
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Chivhoko pleaded with government ministries to clear their debts, adding that the local authority’s finance department should enhance its debt collection strategies to improve inflows into council coffers.
“I am pained that salary payments have once again been derailed due to the Zimra garnish. I am also encouraging our esteemed councillors to complement management efforts by encouraging residents to honour their bills,” he said.
The mayor also urged council officials to control expenditure so that it matches revenue.
In the past, Gweru City Council engaged the services of debt collectors to enforce payment by residents and ratepayers.
