BUSINESS wants Government to consolidate tax and revenue laws, arguing that the existing fragmented framework is increasing compliance costs, driving uncertainty and weighing on new investments.
Zimbabwe’s tax system straddles various Acts, statutory instruments and local authority by-laws, resulting in overlaps, inconsistent penalties and double taxation in certain instances.
Captains of industry and commerce say the complexity of the tax regime undermines the ease of doing business at a time when the economy needs stronger private sector-led growth.
In its 2025 Annual State of the Industry and Commerce Survey report, the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) recommended several changes, among them the consolidation and harmonisation of tax and revenue laws.
Mr Christopher Mugaga
One of the proposals includes clearer alignment between the Finance Act and the principal tax laws.
ZNCC believes that all tax rates would be retained exclusively in the annual Finance Act, while principal Acts would cross-reference the relevant sections for applicable rates.
This would cover taxes and levies such as carbon tax, the intermediated money transfer tax (IMTT), presumptive tax and the petroleum importers levy, reducing ambiguity over where legal obligations arise.
The private sector also proposed the creation of a single, cross-cutting tax administration code to govern major taxes, including income tax, value-added tax (VAT), capital gains Tax, IMTT and all statutory levies.
The code would consolidate common administrative provisions, such as assessments, interest, penalties, appointment of agents, information-gathering powers and dispute resolution, which are scattered across multiple laws.
Under this proposal, a unified penalty matrix would replace the existing multiple penalties, distinguishing clearly intentional and unintentional non-compliance, applying fixed percentage caps and time-based interest.
Businesses say this would reduce challenges caused by inconsistent penalties, including steep surcharges and daily civil fines that vary from one tax to another.
Licensing fees have emerged as another major area of concern.
The private sector is calling for harmonisation to eliminate overlapping national and local authority licences.
The preferred option is the repeal of the Finance Act’s licences tariff for activities already licensed by urban and rural councils, leaving national “licensing” to sector regulators only.
“There are instances of different authorities levying similar taxes or requiring separate compliance steps for related obligations. For example, the local authorities charge a liquor licence, which is also charged by the Liquor Licensing Board,” said tax expert Mr Marvellous Tapera.
“Accordingly, businesses must navigate a maze of licences, permits, levies and reporting requirements from overlapping authorities, many of which duplicate functions or even contradict one another. A company might pay a local authority levy for services and face a similar charge from the Central Government.
“Such fragmentation violates the principle of simplicity and adds redundant compliance costs. Notably, Local Government charges (like council business licences, vendor fees and development levies) often come on top of national taxes, with little co-ordination.
“There is also conflict in mandates. For example, some environmental or health-related levies are collected by both local and national bodies.
“These overlapping regulatory and tax mandates increase the cost of doing business and create uncertainty about legal obligations.”
As an alternative, businesses propose the inclusion of a no-double-charging clause, preventing local authorities from imposing equivalent licence fees where a national licence already applies.
On cross-border trade, companies want the Government to unify border-related taxes and charges under customs through a fully operational electronic single-window system.
They say this would allow importers to make a single declaration and payment for all border taxes, including import VAT, with the VAT Act cross-referencing customs for collection procedures.
Business has also called for clearer rules to ensure that services provided by non-residents are taxed under either VAT on imported services or the non-resident tax on fees — but not both.
ZNCC president Mr Tapiwa Karoro said the chamber has strengthened dialogue with Government, focusing on taxation, currency governance, customs and industrial development.
“We acted as partners, not critics, committed to building a thriving enterprise future. This year, the chamber dedicated significant effort to strengthening the structured dialogue between business and the State. We advanced engagements on key issues relating to taxation modernisation, currency governance, customs efficiency and industrial development,” he said.
“We did so not as critics looking from outside but as partners committed to building a future in which enterprise thrives and investment is secured.”
Implementing these reforms, business added, would significantly improve tax certainty, lower compliance costs and strengthen Zimbabwe’s competitiveness, while preserving the Government’s revenue base through a more efficient and transparent tax system.
ZNCC chief executive officer Mr Christopher Mugaga said Zimbabwe’s economic future hinged on competitiveness, driven by factors like currency stability and a proper taxation regime.
“The issue of competitiveness remains central to Zimbabwe’s economic future. Competitiveness is not determined by a single factor but arises from the interaction of currency stability, cost structures, access to long-term capital, logistics efficiency, trade facilitation, regulatory clarity, labour productivity and the enabling infrastructure environment.
“A competitive private sector is one that can produce efficiently and price competitively,” said Mr Mugaga.
