/ 27 October 1999

ZIM INTRODUCES AIDS TAX

THE Zimbabwean government says it plans to introduce a 3% income tax levy on individuals and large corporation to raise money to fight HIV/Aids. The health and child welfare ministry said it plannsd to create a special fund for the tax, which will be automatically deducted from people’s pay cheques. The government estimates that 700 people die each week from Aids-related diseases, and that 500000 children have been orphaned by the disease since the late 1980s.