Zimbabwe goes hungry as crops wither amid El Nino drought
First Quantum Minerals is disputing the tax claim
Zambia’s tax authority has now sent an $8bn (£5bn) tax bill to one of the country’s largest copper miners.
It says Canada-based First Quantum Minerals has passed off its imports as mining machinery, which is tax exempt.
First Quantum Minerals is disputing the enormous claim, which the authorities say is for unpaid import duties, fines and interest payments connected with its Sentinel mine between 2012 and 2017.
Normally, mining equipment attracts different rates of import duties in Zambia.
In this case, the tax agency says a rate of 25% should have been applied, whereas First Quantum actually only paid 15%.
First Quantum Minerals, which is the country’s largest taxpayer already, claims there are errors in the calculations.
The company has been the subject of such assessments in the past and, in the end, has settled for far less than the initial amount.
The move seems to be part of a growing trend in Africa’s mining sector.
Another Canadian gold miner, Acacia, has had similar problems in Tanzania and new laws in the Democratic Republic of Congo seek to gain more tax revenues from mining companies operating there.
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