Govt reverses 10 percent tax after tobacco farmers threaten to boycott selling

The government has backed down to the demands by tobacco farmers and reversed the implementation of a 10 percent tax on the farmers. The tax was supposed to be withheld from all tobacco farmers who do not have valid tax clearance certificates. The farmers had threatened to withdraw their crop from the tobacco auction floors and to boycott the selling of their crop if the government went ahead and implemented the contentious tax.

Minister of Finance, Cde Patrick Chinamasa told the ZBC News that it did not make sense to tax the tobacco farmers as tobacco production was critical to the economy. He also admitted that the farmers were already highly taxed as it is. Said Chinamasa

What can you expect from producers who are highly taxed? It really does not make sense.

More: ZBC News