Zimbabwean State Enterprises Minister Gorden Moyo said Tuesday that some state enterprises are keeping two sets of books for executive payrolls to conceal the true salaries of top managers and evade taxes.
Moyo said certain parastatals have submitted false payroll statements showing low executive salaries to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority for tax purposes while salaries much higher are being paid to senior parastatal executives.
Moyo said his ministry has asked the revenue authority to investigate such irregularities with a view to prosecuting executives suspected of failing to pay their taxes in full. The government recently ordered state enterprise executives to report how much they are being paid, but sources said most of them have refused to do so.
Top state-sector executives earn up to US$15,000 a month though most such enterprises are close to collapse.
Moyo told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube that the government is not taking the issue of fraudulent payroll records lightly as it is a criminal offense in Zimbabwe to evade taxes.
