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in the departments of Taxes and Customs and Excise operating independently, again.
This was the original structure before Zimra was established in 2001 as a successor organisation to the Department of Taxes and the Department of Customs and Excise, after the promulgation of the Revenue Authority Act in 2000.
Sources said two commissioners, who will both report to the commissioner-general, will be appointed to run the departments.
“The functions of customs and taxes will be separated and will run as standalone entities,” said one Zimra official.
“The board has approved the plan,” he said. “It is now under implementation. It is hoped that the separation of the two divisions will enhance efficiency and bring in the culture of specialisation.”
In a circular to the staff last Friday, Zimra Commissioner-General Mr Gershem Pasi advised workers to make a choice of the department they would like to work for.
“Please take note that the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority Board has resolved that the Customs and Exercise and Domestic Taxes function be separated,” read the circular.
“As the two divisions will be a separate standalone, staff will be required to make a choice as to which one they prefer to work under, when the appropriate time comes.”
Another senior official told Herald Business that the restructuring was aimed at improving efficiency in revenue collection.
Efforts to get a comment from Zimra proved fruitless as the authority did not respond to the questions sent last week.
Last year, Finance Minister Tendai Biti called for a major restructuring of the Government’s revenue collector on recommendations from the International Monetary Fund.
According to reports, Zimra was against the restructuring. It argued that the Finance Ministry had failed to prove the shortcomings of the present structure and to provide evidence on how basic steps leading to such a reform were taken.
It also argued that reverting to the old structure would be “retrogressive” and would negate modern-day best practices.
Meanwhile, a number of workers have lost their posts after their jobs were abolished.
Zimra Commissioner for Legal and Corporate Services Ms Florence Jambwa confirmed the abolition of posts in what she termed “change of plans” by the organisation.
“The original plan was to have boom gates at tollgates but the physical structures being constructed now do not have a provision for boom gates,” she said.
“Field assistants were on fixed-term contracts and Zimra has decided not to renew the contracts.”
Ms Jambwa said the new arrangements would not compromise the revenue collector’s operations at the toll points.