Business Levy

Service documentation · Republic of Zambia · GSB e-Services

Owner	Department of Local Government
Service key	LGD/business-levy
Version	service v1, platform 7eecca5c
Date	2026-10-21

Generated automatically by the service's end-to-end test run. Every screenshot shows synthetic test data on a local test installation, never real personal data.

This document describes the Business Levy service of Department of Local Government as the platform runs it today. It is generated by the service's end-to-end test: every step below was performed by the test, and every screenshot was taken during that run with synthetic data. Regenerate it with npm run docs:services in the e2e suite; do not edit it by hand.

1. Service summary

Item	Detail
Service	Business Levy
Owner (MDA)	Department of Local Government (LGD)
Purpose	Every business enterprise operating within the jurisdiction of a local authority shall, in accordance with the Local Government Act and the Local Government (Business Levy) Regulations, pay a business levy as prescribed.
Who can apply	Organization; Individual
How to apply	Online on the national e-Services portal, signed in with ZamPass; pay with ZamPay.
Fees	Application fee: (table) Inspection fee: (table) Business levy: (table) Personal levy (per levied employee): (table) Application fee: (table) Inspection fee: (table) Business levy: (table) Personal levy (per levied employee): (table) Late renewal penalty: (table) Business levy of the years missed: (table) Application fee: (table) Inspection fee: (table) Amendment fee (change of name, type or location; worked out by the council): (variable) Duplicate certificate fee: (table)
Turnaround	Four (4) days
Validity of the output	31 December of the current year
Required documents	Applicant/Representative Identity Document (required) - NRC, passport, business permit or residence permit of the applicant or the representative. Applicant/Representative Certificate of Registration (required) - Certificate of incorporation or registration of the business (PACRA). ZRA Tax Clearance Certificate (optional), New / Renewal applications only - A valid tax clearance certificate, when ZRA records cannot confirm it from the TPIN. Investment License (optional), New applications only - For a business holding a ZDA investment licence. List of Current Employees (required), New / Renewal applications only - The employees on whom the personal levy is paid. Fire Certificate (required), Renewal applications only - The current fire certificate of the premises. Health Permit (required), Renewal applications only - The current health permit of the premises.
Output documents	GS-1 Application for a Government Service GS-2 Notice of Government Action Certificate of Business Levy Certificate of Business Levy (duplicate)

2. Application process, step by step

The process as configured in the back office:

Step	Role	Task	Type
1	Applicant	Apply	form
2	System	Generate Document	generate-document
3	System	Route	gateway
4	Case Officer	Generate Payment	generate-payment
5	Applicant	Payment	payment
6	Case Officer	Review	review
7	Supervisor	Decision	decision
8	System	Route	gateway
9	System	Generate Document	generate-document
10	System	Generate Document	generate-document
11	System	Notify Client	notify

Who takes part in this journey: Citizen, Case Officer, Supervisor, Anyone (public).

Step 1. Find the service at the council

Citizen · National e-Services portal

The service is delivered by the local authorities: on the national e-Services portal the citizen opens Councils, chooses their council (Lusaka City Council in this run) and searches its services ("Business Levy"). The application is then registered with that council and priced with its own fees.

Step 2. Read the service page

Citizen · National e-Services portal

The service page sets out what the service is for, the fee, how long it takes and the documents to have ready, and names the council the application goes to. "Start application" begins an application at Lusaka City Council (the citizen is signed in with ZamPass).

Step 3. Confirm the applicant details

Citizen · National e-Services portal

The applicant details are filled in from the citizen's ZamPass account. The citizen says whom they are applying for (themself) and continues with "Proceed to Application".

Step 4. Fill in the application form

Citizen · National e-Services portal

The citizen answers the service's own application form, converted from the legacy system (13 answers in this run, all synthetic), for the type of application "New". Questions marked * must be answered; some appear only after an earlier answer. Answers are saved as the citizen types, so an unfinished application can be reopened from My Workplace.

Step 5. Upload the supporting documents

Citizen · National e-Services portal

Each document the service asks for has its own upload (5 in this run: Applicant/Representative Identity Document, Applicant/Representative Certificate of Registration, ZRA Tax Clearance Certificate, Investment License, List of Current Employees). The files are checked and stored with the application; the page confirms each upload.

Step 6. Check the answers and confirm the declaration

Citizen · National e-Services portal

Before sending, the citizen sees every answer and document on one page and can go back to change them. The declaration that the information is true and complete must be ticked.

Step 7. Application sent

Citizen · National e-Services portal

The portal confirms the application with the ministry's reference number (LGD-BL/00001/10-21-26 in this run). The fee is due now: it is taken with the application, so the invoice was raised when the application was sent.

Step 8. See that the fee is due

Citizen · National e-Services portal

The application shows "Waiting for your payment" in My Workplace with a Pay button (K761.80). The fee is taken with the application; the invoice was raised on ZamPay.

Step 9. Pay with ZamPay

Citizen · National e-Services portal

Pay opens the invoice (K761.80, the amount set by the platform, never by the page) with its PDF preview; the citizen pays at ZamPay by mobile money or bank card.

Step 10. Payment received

Citizen · National e-Services portal

ZamPay reports the payment; the dialog says "Paid. Thank you" and the application moves on to the ministry's officers.

Step 11. Take the new application on

Case Officer · Back office

The application arrives in the case queue of the ministry that owns the service (Department of Local Government); only its staff see it. The officer opens it by its reference number - answers, documents and process are on the case - assigns it to themself and takes it on.

Step 12. Fill in the certificate particulars

Case Officer · Back office

The issued document prints 1 field that come from the office rather than from the application (Business levy paid (ZMW)). The officer fills them in on the case's "Certificate particulars" tab before the document is issued (synthetic values in this run) and saves; once the document is issued they can no longer change.

Step 13. Verify Case Eligibility / Compliance

Case Officer · Back office

The Case Officer works on "Verify Case Eligibility / Compliance" (review in the imported process), checks the application and its documents, and completes the step.

Step 14. Decide: Review Final Decision

Supervisor · Back office

At "Review Final Decision" the Supervisor records the decision: approve, with a comment kept in the case history. Approving moves the case on; the last decision completes it and issues the document.

Step 15. The document in My permits

Citizen · National e-Services portal

The issued document (LGD-BL-2026-00001 in this run: "Certificate of Business Levy") is listed in "My permits and licences" with its validity and a download of the sealed PDF.

Step 16. Verify the document

Anyone (public) · Public verification page

The QR code on the document opens the public verification page: genuine and current, to whom it was issued, and whether the electronic seal is valid. No sign-in is needed.

3. Payment

Item	In the test run
Fee (as published)	Application Fee for New Application, Renewal, or Amendment – 20 ZMW Business Levy Fee for New Application or Renewal – depends on the category, size, and location of business Amendment of the Type of Business – the difference between the new higher fee and the previous fee Amendment of the Location of Business – 25.00 ZMW + the difference between the new higher fee and the previous fee Amendment of the Name of Business – 1,500.00 ZMW Duplicate certificate – 500.00 ZMW
Invoice 1	4174086264144883
Amount 1	ZMW 761.80
Paid at 1	with the application

On screen: step 8 (See that the fee is due), step 9 (Pay with ZamPay), step 10 (Payment received) in section 2.

4. Output documents

Certificate of Business Levy (sealed PDF)

Issued when the case was approved, from the service's output configuration (service template BusinessLevy.Certificate.docx), filled from the application and the decision, sealed with the platform's electronic seal and stored as the issued version. The holder downloads it from My permits; the verification page checks it.

The issued PDF has 1 page; the image shows the first.

Fields

Field	Value in the test run
Document title	Certificate of Business Levy
Permit / licence number	LGD-BL-2026-00001
Holder	Chanda Mwila
Valid from	2026-10-21
Valid until	2026-12-31
Status	active
Verification code (printed with a QR code)	CYAL-ZTJG-T5

Seal

Item	Detail
Seal status	sealed
Signature level	PAdES-B-T
Sealed by	the platform seal (development key in the test run)
Signed at	2026-10-21T11:20:20.662Z
Trusted time-stamp	2026-10-21T11:20:20.596Z (time-stamping authority)
Document fingerprint (SHA-256)	c114e46370a68aa5...

Verification

Item	Detail
Where	The public verification page of the national portal, <portal>/verify/<verification code>, opened by scanning the QR code on the document.
What it shows	Whether the document is genuine and current, its holder and validity, and whether the electronic seal is valid and who sealed it.
Checking a copy	Anyone can upload a PDF they were given; the page says whether it is exactly the document that was issued. A changed copy is reported as not matching.

On screen: step 15 (The document in My permits), step 16 (Verify the document) in section 2.

5. Notifications

When	Channel	To	Message	Delivery
Payment due (invoice raised)	in-app (portal bell)	the applicant	Payment due for application LGD-BL/00001/10-21-26 - The fee of ZMW 761.80 for Business Levy (LGD-BL/00001/10-21-26) is now due. Invoice 4174086264144883.	shown
Application received	in-app (portal bell)	the applicant	Application LGD-BL/00001/10-21-26 received - Your application LGD-BL/00001/10-21-26 for Business Levy has been received by Department of Local Government.	shown
Payment received	in-app (portal bell)	the applicant	Payment received for LGD-BL/00001/10-21-26 - Your payment of ZMW 761.80 for LGD-BL/00001/10-21-26 (Business Levy) has been received. Receipt: <ZamPay>/pdf?documentType=receipt&invoiceNumber=4174086264144883	shown
Licence / permit issued	in-app (portal bell)	the applicant	Your Business Levy document has been issued - LGD-BL-2026-00001 has been issued for Business Levy and is valid until 31/12/2026.	shown
Invitation to rate the service	in-app (portal bell)	the applicant	How was Business Levy? - How was Business Levy? Tell us in about a minute.	shown
Decision: approved	in-app (portal bell)	the applicant	Application LGD-BL/00001/10-21-26 completed - LGD-BL/00001/10-21-26 (Business Levy) is complete. Your documents are ready.	shown
Payment due (invoice raised)	email	e2e.c***@example.test	Payment due for application LGD-BL/00001/10-21-26	skipped
Payment due (invoice raised)	sms	+260 97* *** 567	Fee of ZMW 761.80 due for LGD-BL/00001/10-21-26. Invoice 4174086264144883. Pay: <ZamPay>/pay-for-service/get-invoice/4174086264144883	delivered
Application received	sms	+260 97* *** 567	Application LGD-BL/00001/10-21-26 for Business Levy has been received. Track it: <portal>/my-workplace	delivered
Application received	email	e2e.c***@example.test	Application LGD-BL/00001/10-21-26 received	skipped
Payment received	sms	+260 97* *** 567		delivered
Invitation to rate the service	sms	+260 97* *** 567		skipped
Invitation to rate the service	email	e2e.c***@example.test	How was Business Levy?	skipped
Licence / permit issued	sms	+260 97* *** 567		delivered
Decision: approved	sms	+260 97* *** 567		delivered
Licence / permit issued	email	e2e.c***@example.test	Your Business Levy document has been issued	skipped
Decision: approved	email	e2e.c***@example.test	Application LGD-BL/00001/10-21-26 completed	skipped

Delivery: shown = in the portal's notification bell; delivered = the SMS gateway (a test double in this run) reported the text delivered; skipped = not sent on that channel (e-mail is not configured on the test installation, and some notices go out on one channel only); sent by the national portal = a ministry node handed the notice to the national portal, which texts and e-mails the citizen under its own name and the citizen's preferences. Addresses written <portal>, <ZamPay> stand for the national portal and ZamPay.

6. Legacy mapping

Item	Detail
Replaces	Business Levy in the legacy ZIGS e-Services directory (ZIGS_Services)
Legacy service id	602
Legacy provider	Department of Local Government (LGD) under Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development
Legacy process	not recorded
Fee in the legacy system	none
Fee taken before submission	yes (as in ZIGS)
Time to issue (legacy)	not recorded
Legacy output templates	none recorded
Legacy address	https://ecouncils.gsb.gov.zm
How it was brought over	Imported by the platform's legacy catalogue importer (zcm-backend scripts/zigs/importLegacy.js) from the ZIGS snapshot: form, case types, fees, documents, process and output templates, then served by the new platform.

7. Version and date

Item	Detail
Document version	service v1, platform 7eecca5c
Generated	2026-10-21T11:20:32Z (by the end-to-end run, not edited by hand)
Service version	not versioned (configured directly)
Platform snapshot	backend 7eecca5c portal 72805f0 back office 58e5946
Test suite	e2e 2f82c10; one installation (combined); seed profile mihud
Journeys	30-catalogue-service.spec.js: citizen finds the service, answers its form, uploads its documents and sends the application - passed 30-catalogue-service.spec.js: the case goes through every step of its process: payments by the citizen, each officer step by its role - passed 30-catalogue-service.spec.js: the grant document is issued, sealed, filled in and verifiable; the citizen has it in My permits - passed
Result	3 of 3 journey tests passed
Data	Synthetic test data on a local test installation; provider test doubles for ZamPass, ZamPay, SMS and signing.