BDO Zambia Limited - Notice to Clients

Cessation of tax payments by RTGS

On 7 October 2016 the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) announced cessation of Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) payments. With effect from 1 November 2016 RTGS payments have been replaced with e-tax payment.

Early this year ZRA, in conjunction with local commercial banks, introduced its e-payment tax system. This system was introducted with the aim of fast-tracking and tracing payments.

Almost all commercial banks now offer e-tax payment solutions. E-tax payment solutions permit tax payers to settle tax liabilities, and easily access ZRA serice and relevant tax information in real time.

For e-tax services, including registration, please contact your local bank.

 

Cheque and Electronic Transfer payments

On 14 October 2016 the Bank of Zambia issued a notice to all local commercial banks to review the Item Value Limits (value of transactions) of all cheques and electronic funds transfers as per the table below:

 

Type of Payment Instrument	Previous Limit	New Limit
Local Currency Denominated Cheques
Local Kwacha cheques cleared through the Clearing House	K100,000	K25,000
Local cheques presented over the Counter	K0	K25,000
Local Currency Denominated Cheques
Foreign cheques cleared within Zambia	$0	$5,000
Foreign cheques presented over the Counter	$0	$5,000

 

We note that the splitting of cheques to circumvent the prescribed limit is prohibited. Splitting of cheques will attract penalties.

This measure has been introduced to encourage the use of bank electronic payments.

Disclaimer

Our knowledge and interpretation of the relevant charges in the electronic, cheque and tax payments is based on our understanding of the recently issued Bank of Zambia and Zambia Revenue Authority directives.

Download the PDF