BUUMBA CHIMBULU writes
@SunZambian
IT is essential for tax policy to be stable, consistent and agreements respected to attract large scale multi-year investments, says First Quantum Minerals (FQM) chief financial officer Hannes Meyer.
Mr Meyer said large -scale multi-year investments could provide positive endorsement in the host country by working together on tax policy and agreements.
He said in a statement that investments for FQM were large and involved significant amounts of upfront capital.
“First Quantum believes that, to attract capital to make these large scale multi-year investments, it is essential for tax policy to be stable and consistent and that agreements are respected.
“We believe by openly working with host countries on tax policy and ensuring we are transparent in what we invest, pay, and contribute, we can benefit the countries we operate in by not only the contributions we make but also by the positive endorsement our investments make in the host country.” he said.
Mr Meyer said FQM believed that transparency could help stakeholders to understand the economic benefits generated by the companies’ activities.
He said FQM there strived to ensure that its disclosures were transparent, consistent, and accessible and presented in a way that was easily understood.
“At First Quantum, we know that our success is dependent on the wellbeing of the economies and communities where our businesses operate,” Mr Meyer said.
Meanwhile, FQM paid more than US$533 million (K5.6 billion) in taxes to Government in 2018, with an additional US$10 million spent on community and infrastructure projects.
During the year, FQM paid US$144 million in income tax to the Zambian Revenue Authority, US$197 million in mineral royalties, US$73 million in PAYE, US$8 million in withholding tax and US$90 million in consumption and import taxes.
