Consumers in the country continue to dig deeper in their pockets to buy cooking oil as the prices of the commodity remains high despite removal of VAT on April 1, 2022.
Government removed the 16.5 per cent VAT on cooking oil in a bid to force cooking oil manufacturers lower the prices.
Refined cooking oil
However, a cross check of the cooking oil prices in shop shelves indicate that the prices are as high as before the removal of the VAT
Government has has since gazetted the Value Added Tax (VAT) bill which will facilitate the removal of a 16.5 percent tax on cooking oil and other commodities.
The development comes after President Chakwera assented to the Taxation Amendment and VAT amendment bills.
Taurai Banda, spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning confirmed that the bills have been gazetted.
Banda said government is expecting all retailers and stakeholders to implement the required VAT adjustment, in accordance with the law.
