WTS Tax Matrix Academy (WTS) has called for collective lobbying over the growing tax burden facing businesses, as it continues to increase the cost structure for local companies, NewsDay Business can reveal.
According to the Zimbabwe Tax Perception Survey 2025 released last year, conducted by Zimbabwe Taxpayers Platform, it found that formal businesses shoulder the heaviest tax burden, while nearly eight in 10 say informal traders evade tax.
Despite this, Treasury introduced a slew of new taxes this year as it aims to collect US$9,4 billion this year.
These include a 0,5 percentage-point increase in value-added tax to 15,5%, the introduction of a 15% digital services withholding tax on offshore platforms and a 15% presumptive rental income tax.
Another change was to the intermediated money transfer tax, whereby the fee on ZiG transactions was reduced to 1,5%, from 2% but remained unchanged at 2% on US dollar transfers.
“Lobbying is particularly important. Having interaction with the Ministry of Finance, having interaction with the industry itself is important, and the government must streamline because these are affecting businesses,” WTS chief executive officer Marvellous Tapera told NewsDay Business on the sidelines of a tax indaba held yesterday.
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“So, the possible solution is that the industry needs to come together and have a pushback if it is possible.”
He said other industries have been able to fight tax obligations successfully after banding together.
An example of this in recent memory is the beverage makers who banded together following the introduction of the sugar tax introduced in 2024, where, through the Beverage Makers Association, got the tax reduced.
It was reduced to US$0,001 per gramme of sugar contained in beverages from an initial US$0,02.
“In many cases, non-compliance is not because the taxes do not exist, but because the people responsible for compliance are not aware of the changes,” Tapera said.
“When Zimra [Zimbabwe Revenue Authority] conducts audits years later, companies are penalised despite having limited information at the time.”
Companies such as Delta Corporation Limited and Innscor Africa Limited are currently battling Zimra in court over such tax penalties.
“The tax landscape is constantly changing, yet information flow to the sector has been limited. As a result, the industry has been lagging behind in understanding some of these developments,” Tapera said.
He said several policy issues were creating uncertainty, particularly in the insurance sector concerning current rules that were still based on older legislation.
“There are no clear rules on how to compute tax liabilities in foreign currency, particularly for large insurers.”
He also raised concern about the digital services tax, saying the legislation lacks clarity on applicable rates and exemptions.
“There are grey areas that could lead to double taxation, especially where services such as education fees or imported services may be treated as digital services,” Tapera said.
The 15% presumptive rental income tax could significantly affect the profitability of some companies, especially insurers that own investment properties, he also warned, adding that the compliance requirements could also affect tenants who may be required to ensure the tax is accounted for.
“In some cases where businesses believe there are no withholding taxes or VAT obligations, Zimra is now indicating that VAT should apply. These developments are increasing the compliance burden,” Tapera said.
He said the higher revenue targets, combined with frequent tax policy changes, were adding pressure on companies struggling to keep up with compliance requirements.
The government continues to engage with industry over tax obligations.