Revenue Audits
Introduction
The Revenue Audits Directorate is one of the six (6) directorates in the Audit Division. The Directorate which is headed by a Director has two sections namely Tax and Non-Tax Revenues Sections which are headed by Assistant Directors. Under the old structure the Directorate was known as Revenue Economic affairs and Performance Audits Division (REPA). However, due to the importance of revenue collection to Government, the Performance Audit component was removed to allow the directorate to concentrate only on the Audit of Revenue.
According to Article 250 of the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment Act No.2 of 2016), “….the Auditor General shall satisfy himself that the moneys expended have been applied to the purposes for which they were appropriated by the Appropriations Act or in accordance with the approved supplementary estimates, or in accordance with the Excess Expenditure Appropriation Act, as the case may be, and that the expenditure conforms to authorities that govern it”
Functions
In order to effectively carry out this mandate, the Revenue Directorate was created to audit all the processes and procedures regarding Government revenue collections and to ascertain whether all such revenue collections have been brought to account.
Further, the Directorate verifies whether the revenue targets have been met as stated in the National Budget and make recommendations to Government to ensure that all revenues due, are collected and accounted for.
TAX REVENUES
These are revenues being collected by the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and include; Income Tax, Customs and Excise, and Value Added Tax (VAT).
NON-TAX REVENUE
These are revenues obtained from government ministries, departments and agencies and include revenues such as Fees of Court or Office, and Capital Grants.
The Directorate helps to strengthen controls in the revenue collection processes by identifying weaknesses in the system and making recommendations on how to strengthen the controls thus leading to more effective assessment, collection and accounting for revenue in the country.
Clientele
The Directorate’s clientele include all Government revenue collecting Ministries, Departments and or Agencies such as:
- Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA)
- Road Traffic Commission (RTC)
- The Judiciary
- Civil Aviation
- Ministries of Lands, Agriculture, Home Affairs,Foreign Affairs, Information, Justice, Labour, Mines, Finance and Energy among others.
Staffing
The Directorate comprises Twenty-five (25) Auditors including the Director and the two Deputies.