Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane has hit ordinary Zambians with a fresh wave of taxes in the 2027 national budget, and experts are warning that the pain will land squarely on the shoulders of the common man, not the big men in boardrooms.
Announced in the 2027 budget address, the new measures include a doubling of excise duty on single-use plastics from 100 percent to 200 percent, a new 80 ngwee charge on every plastic bottle, a K1 per kilogram excise duty on sugar, a 20 percent excise duty on chocolate and sugar confectionery, and an increase in mobile money levies, according to LusakaTimes.com.
Who Really Pays For These Taxes?
The answer is simple: you do. Analysts who spoke to LusakaTimes.com in separate interviews were united on one point. Manufacturers and traders will not absorb these added costs. They will pass every single ngwee onto the consumer at the till.
Financial analyst Yusuf Dodia said the new taxes will make it difficult for ordinary Zambians to afford a range of everyday products.
“Sugar is an essential ingredient in a lot of products. Plastics are used in packaging and storage in the entire production value chain. A new tax of 80 ngwee per bottle raises the cost of locally produced items,” Dodia said.
He warned that Zambia risks becoming regionally uncompetitive as an industrial hub because of the heavier tax burden. Our own producers, the men and women running workshops in Kanyama, Chipata and Ndola, will be squeezed out by competitors from across our borders.
“It is very simple. When you over-tax the producers, they simply transfer the cost to the consumer, which affects overall sales and thereby risks jobs,” Dodia said.
Consumer Body Fires Back: Government Is Taxing Us Out Of Everything
Zambia Consumer Association Executive Director Juba Sakala did not mince his words. He said the new tax framework is not consumer friendly, and he said it in the language of the street.
“This government now appears determined to tax us out of everything we have. The new tax on sugar is difficult to understand. The cost of producing and packaging anything plastic in Zambia will go up now, and even mobile money transfer has become expensive,” Sakala said.
He noted that 2027 will be the year in which Zambians will have to tighten their belts. For a mother in Chawama sending money to a child at UNZA, for a farmer in Petauke buying a bag of sugar, this budget takes more and gives less.
The pain goes beyond sugar and plastics. The Zambian Observer reported that the 2027 budget also raises VAT to 16.5 percent and adds new taxes on cooking oil, sweets and packaging, meaning every shopper in Zambia loses out.
Even Big Business Is Raising The Alarm
When the big players start complaining, you know the situation is serious. Zambian Breweries Plc has appealed to government to build a predictable tax environment, saying constant changes to fiscal rules make it impossible to plan.
Chipego Zulu, the company's Director of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, said tax stability and regulatory predictability are essential for business growth.
“We are encouraged by the theme that speaks to growing Zambia by moving from stabilisation to unlocking opportunities. As a major player in manufacturing and Zambia's largest brewer, we fully back the government's shift towards aggressive local industrialisation and value addition,” Zulu said.
“However, we would like to emphasise that tax reliability and predictability are absolutely core to driving this growth agenda. For a business like ours, a predictable fiscal environment is not a luxury. It is an absolute necessity for business continuity and for business growth,” she added.
Zulu said fiscal predictability would allow her company to make long-term capital investments in local agricultural value chains such as cassava, sorghum and barley. These are Zambian crops, grown by Zambian hands, and they deserve a government that supports them instead of strangling them with unpredictable taxes.
What Else Is In The Fine Print?
The 2027 budget carries even more measures that will touch every Zambian wallet. Mpelembe Network reported that the government has also doubled the mobile money transaction levy, slapped a 15 percent withholding tax on mining dividends, introduced a 5 percent export duty on zinc concentrates, and raised import tariffs on ceramic tiles to 40 percent alongside higher duties on structural aluminium profiles.
There is one silver lining for our own artisanal gold miners. The same report notes that mineral royalties for small-scale gold miners selling to state-approved aggregators have been cut from 6.0 percent to 3.0 percent. That is a step in the right direction, putting more money in the pockets of Zambians who dig the wealth from our own soil with their bare hands.
But why does it always seem easier for this government to tax the ordinary Zambian than to make the big foreign interests pay their fair share? Our copper leaves our borders year after year, yet it is the widow selling vitumbuwa who is asked to sacrifice again.
2027: The Year Of Tightened Belts
The message from the experts is clear. Every producer will pass these costs on. Every shopkeeper will adjust prices upward. Every family will feel it at the counter.
Sakala put it bluntly: 2027 is the year Zambians must tighten their belts. The question the people of this nation are asking is simple. We have carried the burden of stabilization. We have been told the pain was for tomorrow's gain. So when does the gain arrive? When does the budget of this republic start working for the Zambian who pays for it?
Zambian Breweries says it will continue providing private sector input into the Medium-Term Revenue Strategy, working with the Ministry of Finance to entrench tax stability over the coming years. Whether the government listens is another matter altogether.
FAQ
How much is the new tax on sugar in Zambia's 2027 budget?
The 2027 budget introduces an excise duty of K1 per kilogram on sugar, plus a 20 percent excise duty on chocolate and sugar confectionery.
What is the new tax on plastic bottles?
Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane proposed a specific excise duty of 80 ngwee per plastic bottle, while excise duty on single-use plastics doubles from 100 percent to 200 percent.
Will mobile money transfers become more expensive?
Yes. The 2027 budget increases mobile money levies, and reports say the transaction levy has been doubled, raising the cost of sending and receiving money.
When do these new taxes take effect?
The measures were announced in the 2027 national budget address by Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane and will apply in the 2027 fiscal year.