The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) has launched investigations to establish whether or not all vehicles imported between January 2014 and June this year were cleared in accordance with the law.
This comes as a forensic audit on the pay and benefits of Zimra senior executives is underway.
According to the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA), the country's vehicle population now stands at 1.2 million, from 800 000 in September 2014.
Fears abound that thousands of vehicles could have been smuggled into the country by a syndicate of ZIMRA officials and clearing agents using counterfeit import documents.
ZIMRA board secretary and director of legal and corporate services Ms Florence Jambwa last week, said the investigations were part of regular compliance checks.
"The ongoing exercise to verify motor vehicles which were imported between January 2014 and June 2016 is part of ZIMRA's regular compliance checks which are carried out to safeguard revenue.
The selection of the period January 2014 to June 2016 is part of the authority's risk profiling. It does not mean that other periods outside this will not be looked at as this is an ongoing exercise," said Ms Jambwa.
"The extent of the prejudice, if any, can only be ascertained after the completion of the exercise."
In a Press statement, acting ZIMRA Commissioner-General Mr Happias Kuzvinzwa urged owners of vehicles imported between January 2014 and June this year to contact their offices to get confirmation or proper clearance.
The deadline for the process has been set at September 30 and afterwards cars without proper clearance will be seized.
"ZIMRA is carrying out an exercise to verify whether motor vehicles imported into the country were properly cleared in accordance with provisions of the Customs and Excise Act (Chapter 23:02).
In this regard, ZIMRA is kindly requesting all owners of motor vehicles imported into Zimbabwe between January 2014 and June 2016 to approach ZIMRA to get confirmation or proper clearance, and regularise the clearance if found not to be in accordance with the applicable laws.
"To facilitate confirmation, please approach your nearest Zimra offices with your motor vehicle together with the necessary customs clearance documents and your vehicle registration book," he said. Mr Kuzvinzwa urged members of the public to use this opportunity to get clearance for their cars regularised before the deadline.
"If you fall into the category of importers or motor vehicles which were imported within the period in which ZIMRA wants to check as mentioned above, and you fail to comply within the period provided for this notice, you risk having your motor vehicle seized where ever it is found," he said.
Earlier this month, there were reports that the forensic audit on the pay and benefits of ZIMRA senior executives was still on-going, and will now be completed at the end of the month, after officials failed to meet the June 30 deadline.
The audit is centered on executive payroll and packages including secondment of Zimra staff, personal loans advanced to executives and subsequent imports and clearance of vehicles
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