Zimbabwe Taxation

“For every skin, piece of paper which shall be in grossed, stamp duty of one shilling and six pence...” apart from the price that already is placed on all objects on the market, the taxes being imposed are more than six shillings. For the limited necessities that were sold the taxes being imposed as stated in the Stamp Act of 1765, “There shall be raised, levied, collected, and paid unto his majesty, his heirs and successors, throughout the colonies and plantations in America which now are, or here after maybe, under the dominion of his majesty.”

The British government didn’t only place taxes on goods, they also imposed acts such as the Quartering Act, the Stamp Act, and

The Great Zimbabwe was a kingdom that was established in 1250. This kingdom was a culmination of various southern African kingdoms. While most settlements within the kingdom were dedicated to

The rate of tax that you pay depends on your individual situation, how much you have earned, other income you have received and deductions you may (or may not!) be entitled too.

The UK taxation system subjects individuals’ incomes, including interest on savings, pensions, and salaries to income tax on the basis of ‘bands’ – the first £ 9,440 (which recently rose to £ 10,000) is exempt from taxation, with any income between this limit and £32,010 attracting a basic rate of 20%, that between £32,011 and £ 150,000 attracting a tax rate 40%, and anything in excess of £150,000 attracting a rate of 45% (BBC, 2014). Prior to April 2013, earnings exceeding £150,000 were taxed at a rate of 50% - the 5p rate of income tax - such that a person earning £200,000 would be taxed at 40% for the first £150,000 and an additional £25,000 for the extra £50,000, as opposed to the £22,500 they would pay under the current 45% rate. The government’s decision to reduce the high-band rate from 50% to 45% in April last year was aimed at stimulating economic growth and facilitating the process of recovery. The Labor Party’s plan is geared towards facilitating income redistribution by raising the high-band rate of income taxation from the current 45% to the original 50%.

Imagine having all of your rights, land, and everything you have grown to know and love taken away from you. This happened when imperialism occurred in Africa in the 1800s and 1900s. Zimbabwe was a location that was greatly impacted by the process of imperialism. Overall, imperialism brought many positive and negative effects to Zimbabwe as well as other places around the world. The impact of imperialism on Zimbabwe had a negative effect overall because the continent was divided without regard to the groups the Africans had formed, the government was taken over by the British, and the Africans were treated as though they were inferior to the Europeans.

In 1635, custom duty brought in £358,000 for Charles and throughout the 1630s, it accounted for almost two-thirds of the crown’s revenue. This was an effective way to raise money for Charles, but it was a sore point with many members of his rejected parliament. It was also, essentially illegal to collect such duties as he was going against what they had stated to him in 1625.

Politics is the process in which negotiation and resistance is utilized to establish a stable society. In contrast, the current United States tax system fails to form such solid grounds. Without such a complex system, anarchy and chaos will overrule the goal of fairness that is favorable to people. Taxation is a branch of politics that is distorted in some ways in which it does not satisfy many people’s needs. Although a government is designed to run an organized society and meet the needs of citizens, it does not always do a great job. Many people feel that their place in the financial world grants them immunity from excessive taxes while others feel they are being hurt by such an unequal tax burden. The purpose of taxes is to benefit society as a whole and keep the government running, but it is not working properly and efficiently. People’s various situations make it difficult to implement the current tax system. Taxation has long been deliberated, and the issue holds many points, such as income, a person’s age, and where they live, these circumstances are unequal and unfair to many people.

Taxation has been an important facet of civilization throughout history. Many rulers have taken advantage of

Zimbabwe, originally named Rhodesia “… the most prominent settler colony in British Africa… developed policies… under the radar of state control” (Andersson and Green, 128). The settlers mainly chose to control what they wanted even if it meant destroying the society. In Yvonne Vera’s short story, “Why Don’t You Carve Other Animals”, she subtly illustrates Zimbabwean cultural segregation and past settler colonization. In the article, “Development Under the Surface: The Rise of Indigenous Agriculture as an Unintended

Afternoon once again some more on Zimbabwe...DISCUSS THE RISE AND EXPANSION OF THE MUTAPA STATE. (NOV 2008)

Taxation systems are usually modeled in such a way that they take into consideration the social welfare of the citizens. The government and other policy makers have the responsibility of ensuring that the system takes into account the needs of the citizens. The bottom line is that taxation should foster equal distribution of resources. The rate of taxation is usually arrived at after several considerations have been made. The rates are not fixed as they depend on the various economic changes. The issue of how taxation should be distributed among the different economic classes is yet to be addressed.

The Zimbabwean economy is nose diving and experiencing huge cash shortages of the currency in circulation ,this is being seen as the banks are now rationing the payments, giving each individual about $100 per day and sometimes less or no cash , also money is now not easily accessible from mobile bankers like eco-cash, telecash and one wallet, this is being caused by the imports which are outweighing the exports and among these imports there is the importation of second hand cars which is seen to have dominated the imports of Zimbabwe.

Little has been documented on how Zimbabweans who left for other countries have helped in the development of Zimbabwe, especially after the year 2000 crisis. Zimbabwe’s ‘global citizens’ have been the major providers in aiding Zimbabwe for emergency and development, playing a constructive role in improving the lives of its citizens as a whole (Mbiba, 2005). They are able to provide for and give the relatives and friends they left behind, a better life through opportunities they have found in these ‘new homes’. These Zimbabwean ‘global citizens’ are able to provide for their families back in Zimbabwe during this crisis through the transferring of money, property buying, funeral insurance and more offered by service companies and agencies that link contact between borders. They are able to achieve this through academically qualified jobs, unqualified service jobs and informal trading markets. According to studies conducted in 2004 by the Home Office of the United Kingdom, Zimbabwean communities living outside their country “are likely to have on average, better academic qualifications than the host community and other African communities” (Mbiba, 2005:84). During the 2007-2009 major economic crisis in Zimbabwe it became harder to send money home because of the increased burden of shortages of basic commodities; remittances sent to relatives and friends in Zimbabwe were expanded to goods such as clothing, foods and other basics (Mukwedeya, 2011).

Tax can be defined as a financial levy or other levy that is imposed upon taxpayers who cane be a single person or a legal entity. The government or an organ that has a similar function equivalent of a government imposes these levies for purposes of carrying out different government expenditures. There are different ways of taxing that different governments employ to impose taxes to its citizens and the administration always have different ways of punishing those who evade taxes or resist being taxed. In Australia, the way in which residents are taxed is very different with how non-residents are taxed with the non-residents having to pay an amount higher than the residents. The country’s tax office also has different ways of imposing tax to personal property as well as how they define assessable income.