LANDLORDS in the habit of playing hide and seek with the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) aiming to avoid rental tax payment will be on the authority’s radar thanks to electricity bills payment.
According to ZRA’s acting director of tax services and education, Topsy Sikalinda, the Authority is working to integrate its systems with Zesco in a move aimed at enhancing rental tax compliance.
“What we are trying to do is that once we interlink the systems, we will be able to know who has a house for rent out there,” Sikalinda said at Bread of Life Church’s Men of Destiny Conference recently.
The initiative is part of ZRA’s broader digital strategy of utilising fintech in a country still adjusting to smart invoices and online filings.
But Sikalinda was quick to reassure the congregation of men that rental income is taxed at just 4 percent, and the first K1,000 is completely exempted.
For instance If you are earning K2,000 in rent, you are only paying K40 in tax.
And it’s not just rentals. ZRA’s tax systems are getting smarter.
The authority rolled out a suite of smart invoicing tools, including mobile apps, web platforms for big retailers, to ensure businesses comply with VAT and other obligations.
For those dragging their feet and avoiding to utilise smart invoicing, ZRA tax consultant Mathews Kumwenda added a warning of penalties.
He said failure to onboard onto smart invoicing, businesses will be hit with a K40,000 penalty for the first offence, K80,000 for the second, and a soul-shaking K120,000 for the third.
To improve understanding, Sikalinda encouraged attendees to enroll in free online tax courses, download the TaxOnApp, and take advantage of ZRA’s growing tax education platforms.
Furthermore, ZRA commissioner general Dingani Banda said avoiding the authority is no longer a strategy it’s only a matter of time before they catch up with evaders due to the utilisation of technology.
As part of its broad digitisation agenda, ZRA successfully integrated its systems with the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA), the Ministry of Lands, the Ministry of Finance, and commercial banks, creating a national compliance grid that no longer allows businesses to operate off the tax radar.
Banda noted that the old system allowed thousands of companies to win tenders and conduct business without ever registering for taxes.
“Previously, people would register a company at PACRA and even get a tender from a public institution without ever registering with ZRA. They were invisible to us,” he said.
Now, integration means a tax payer identification number (TPIN) is automatically issued when registering a business at PACRA.
He said ZRA is digitally linked with the Ministry of Lands, so property purchases now trigger tax compliance checks.
The Ministry of Finance cannot process payments to government suppliers without first confirming the taxpayer’s status via ZRA systems.
Banda said banks must verify tax compliance certificate for high-value transactions.
“This will stop the informal economy from disguising itself in formal clothing. Many businesses are only informal to ZRA. They have phones, bank accounts, NRCs… Everything else is formal except their taxes,” said Banda.
Picture credit: Bread of Life Church
Kalemba June 29, 2025
