According to the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) […]

According to the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) 2025 Annual Report, Zambia recorded 6,571,699 Taxpayer Identification Number (TPIN) holders in 2025, but only 388,779 had active tax accounts, meaning more than 5.9 million registered taxpayers were not filing or paying taxes.

The report seen by ZBT shows that the total number of TPIN holders increased by 556,166 from 6,015,533 in 2024 to 6,571,699 in 2025. However, the same report revealed that the number of taxpayers with active tax accounts rose by only 8,794, from 379,985 in 2024 to 388,779 in 2025, while those without tax accounts increased from 5,635,548 to 5,954,775.

 Speaking in an interview with Zambian Business Times— ZBT, economic expert Salwindi Notulu described the figures as reflecting the country’s large informal sector, where many people register for TPINs but do not actively participate in the tax system.

 Notulu said one of the principles of a good tax system is that the cost of collecting tax should always be lower than the revenue collected, adding that Zambia’s narrow formal sector partly explains the wide gap between TPIN registration and active taxpayers.

 “Our Zambian economy is larger than the informal sector, so the formal sector is very limited, and that also explains the discrepancies that you have between those with certificates and those who actually pay,” he said.

Notulu illustrated the challenge using traders operating in markets such as Katondo Street, saying many obtain TPINs for business transactions but rarely declare the income they earn because there is little incentive to voluntarily pay tax. “Someone selling phones or vehicles may have a TPIN because it is required, but whatever profit they make is rarely declared because there is no incentive for them to do so,” he said.

Meanwhile, Notulu observed that the figures also reveal a positive trend because millions of Zambians have already taken the first step of formally registering with ZRA as a first step to expand the country’s tax base.

 “The positive side is that our people are willing to do the formal registration, provided we give them the right incentives, and with the right policies we can have more people contributing through taxation,” he said.

 Notulu told ZBT that countries with stronger voluntary tax compliance often make citizens directly responsible for declaring and paying their taxes, a system he said also strengthens public accountability over the use of tax revenues.

He urged policymakers to introduce incentives that encourage voluntary tax compliance, arguing that converting more of the 5.9 million registered but inactive TPIN holders into active taxpayers would broaden Zambia’s revenue base and reduce pressure on the small number of individuals and businesses currently financing public services.

By Philip Sinkala