Tax Evasion – A Protest or Lack of Knowledge for Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners in Midlands Province - Zimbabwe

Abstract

Tax evasion is a major challenge in many countries of the world that deprive many governments to meet their expected expenditures to finance the public goods and services. Zimbabwe is amongst the developing countries that experience tax gap due noncompliance. Despite several reports that the revenue authority is surpassing its target there is a lot of work that need to be done so as to recover more revenue that is not collected due to tax evasion. The study was conducted in Midlands Province of Zimbabwe focusing on registered Artisanal and small-scale mines (ASMs). Stratified random sampling was used to select Artisanal and small-scale miners for interview. The study was conducted by selecting respondents from eight mining districts in Midlands Province. The selected mining districts in Midlands Province are Shurugwi, Kwekwe, Silovela, Zhombe, Mberengwa, Zvishavane, Gokwe North and Gweru. The study focused on registered Artisanal and Small-scale miners who are members of Zimbabwe Mining Federation (ZMF). A sample size of 400 was selected from a total of 9409 Artisanal and small-scale miners who are registered with the ministry of mines and mining development of Midlands province- Zimbabwe. Yomane’s sample size formula was to come up with the appropriate sample size. Data analysis was conducted using Pearson, Spearman correlation and multivariate regression.