A truce over the tax ledger: ZRA halts penalties, certificate suspensions and debt recovery while migrated records are reconciled

The Zambia Revenue Authority has called a pause. During the reconciliation of historical tax records it moved onto its TaxOnline platform this month, the authority will not impose penalties, suspend Tax Clearance Certificates or pursue debt recovery arising from historical data that has not yet been reconciled, Commissioner-General Dingani Banda said in a statement issued on Tuesday 13 October and reported by Zambia Monitor.

The assurance follows a meeting between the ZRA and the country’s main business associations, which the Ecofin Agency dates to Monday 12 October. Participants included the Zambia Association of Manufacturers, whose president Mohammed Umar co-chaired the meeting, the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Bankers Association of Zambia and the Economics Association of Zambia. They raised concerns about certificates that had already been suspended, the reliability of the migrated records, administrative difficulties, the timing of the migration and what they saw as insufficient consultation beforehand.

What was migrated

According to both reports, the ZRA completed the transfer of historical tax account transactions from decommissioned legacy systems to TaxOnline earlier in October — Ecofin gives the date as 6 October. The migrated records cover returns, payments, offsets, assessments, penalties, fines, interest and refunds, bringing historical and current transactions onto one platform. The authority says the migration created no new tax liabilities, but acknowledges that balances may have changed and that some transaction references may look unfamiliar to taxpayers.

This data migration will empower taxpayers to access information that supports the reconciliation of their tax accounts.
— Dingani Banda, ZRA Commissioner-General, in a statement on Tuesday 13 October, as reported by Zambia Monitor

What taxpayers are asked to do

Taxpayers are asked to review their migrated records, reconcile their accounts and report any discrepancies through the established channels; migrated data will be reconciled with each taxpayer before it is posted to their account. Those whose Tax Clearance Certificates were suspended are told to reapply for reinstatement. The ZRA has also set up a dedicated technical working group to improve communication and resolve migration and reconciliation problems, and Mr Umar welcomed the authority’s engagement.

Separately, the Extended Voluntary Disclosure Scheme remains open until 31 December 2026: eligible taxpayers who settle their outstanding principal tax can receive a full waiver of accrued penalties and interest, Ecofin reports. The ZRA has not said when the reconciliation period will end, nor who sits on the working group — the two details businesses will want next.

Sources: Zambia Monitor, “ZRA suspends penalties, debt recovery over historical tax data reconciliation” (13 Oct 2026); Ecofin Agency, “Zambia Halts Tax Penalties and Debt Recovery Over Disputed Records” (13 Oct 2026).