(Fixes exchange rate)
By Stella Mapenzauswa
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Zambia's revenue collection
in 2015 could be even lower than the 2 billion Zambian kwacha
($202 million) downward adjustment the finance minister made
earlier this year, as weaker copper prices take their toll, the
revenue head said on Wednesday.
A slide in global copper prices has put pressure on Africa's
second biggest producer of the metal, with export earnings
depressed despite the kwacha's ZMW= 55 percent fall against
the dollar this year.
The finance minister cut his original revenue target by 2.12
billion kwacha in June, and on Wednesday Zambia Revenue
Authority (ZRA) commissioner general Berlin Msiska suggested the
shortfall could be bigger.
"I think it's fair to say, taking the economic fundamentals
into account, it necessitates revisiting the numbers," he told
Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Johannesburg.
"In means that when you look at the fiscal table the
government ends up with a wider financing gap."
Msiska told the conference that the ZRA had forwarded
proposals to the finance ministry for regulations to prevent
multinationals from using transfer pricing to evade paying
taxes.
Transfer pricing happens when multinationals sell to their
parent or subsidiaries abroad at lower prices leading to
declaration of lower earnings or even losses, avoiding the
payment of billions in tax revenues.
"Out of 16 percent of GDP that we collect in revenue, the
mining sector contributes 2 percent, and that is taking
corporate income tax and mineral royalties together," Msiska
said.
"That in itself is a big concern. The perception is that
multinationals are not paying their fair of tax."
In July, the mining industry said an increase in corporate
tax to 35 percent and other new tax rules would scare away
investors and discourage processing to add value, calling for
them to be scrapped.
Some of the foreign firms running mines in Zambia include
Glencore GLEN.L , Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO , Vedanta Resources
VED.L and Canada's First Quantum Minerals FM.TO .
($1 = 9.9250 Zambian kwachas)
(Editing by James Macharia)