Responsibilities of VAT registered operators.

VAT registered operators are business registered for Value Added Tax. They collect VAT from consumers on behalf of the government. Their major mandate to charge Output Tax on every sale and account it to ZIMRA.

Recently they have been supplies who have been chosen to hold VAT withholding tax and remitte to ZIMRA. We will do an article on VAT Withholding Tax and it’s treatment.

Responsibility of VAT Registered Operators.

Fiscalisation.

Fiscalisation refers to configuring of fiscal devices to enable them to record sales and other tax information on the read only fiscal memory at the time of sale for use by ZIMRA in Value Added Tax administration.

How do registered operators Fiscalise?

They should buy a fiscal device from any approved Fiscal Device vendors.

What are fiscal devices?
These are electronic devices which contain a “fiscal memory”. A “fiscal memory” is a special read only memory which is permanently built into a fiscalised device to store tax information at the time of the sale.

There are three broad categories of the prescribed fiscalised devices and these are;

• • Fiscalised electronic registers, also referred to as electronic tax registers (ETRs);
  • Fiscalised printers; and
  • Electronic signature devices (ESDs).

Who should fiscalise?

Every VAT registered operator is obliged to have a fiscalised device for the purpose of recording their day to day transactions.

Mandated Requirements for VAT registered operators. 

The law stipulates that the registered operator;

• • Use the device on a daily basis and for every transaction.
  • Prepare daily, monthly and annual reports (z-reports), which outline:
    • the date of the report and period it applies;
    • the name and address of the registered operator;
    • the VAT identification number and Business Partner Number of the registered operator;
    • the unique identification number (Serial number) of every fiscalised electronic register, fiscal memory device and electronic signature device used by the registered operator;
    • the total value of sales in respect of the period covered by the report; and
    • the total amount of tax paid in respect of the period covered by the report.
  • All currencies of trade should be shown on the report.
  • Ensure that the device is correctly configured with particular regard to description of goods/services and the correct allocation of their respective tax rates.
  • Keep such reports a for a period six years and avail such reports to ZIMRA whenever required to do so.

Incentive for Fiscalisation.

There are incentive which comes with Fiscalisation.

Incentive to Registered Operators

1. Claim 50% of the cost of acquisition of the fiscal electronic registers as Input Tax.
2. 50% is spread over two years as and claimed as SIA on the Income Tax Return (ITF 12C).

Incentive to Approved Suppliers.

1. Duty rebate on the importation of fiscal devices and fiscal memory devices.
2. No VAT is payable on the importation of fiscal devices.