Customs and Excise (Tariff) (Amendment) Notice, 2024 (No. 5)
The sugar tax on beverages is reset at US$0.001 per gram of added sugar across juices, soft drinks, energy drinks, maheu, beer, wine, cider and spirits — and unlabelled drinks are deemed to contain 100g of sugar per litre.
The Minister of Finance has deleted and replaced the whole Third Schedule of the Customs and Excise (Tariff) Notice, 2022 (S.I. 203 of 2022), which carries the special surtax on the sugar content of beverages.
The rate is uniform: US$0.001 per gram of sugar, applied across every listed heading. Importantly, the surtax is levied only on added sugar, not on sugar naturally present.
The coverage is wide. It runs across heading 20.09 fruit, nut and vegetable juices (including tomato juice and mixtures); opaque beer powder and other preparations under 21.06; flavoured aerated waters, energy drinks, non-alcoholic beer and maheu under 22.02; beers under 22.03 including clear beer made from Zimbabwean sorghum; wines and grape must under 22.04 and 22.05; cider, perry and mead under 22.06; and spirits under 22.08.
The deeming rule is the one to watch. Where a listed beverage carries no label, or the label does not state the sugar content, the beverage is deemed to contain 100 grams of sugar per litre — which at US$0.001 per gram works out to US$0.10 in surtax per litre. Local manufacturers who file declarations of their production processes for unlabelled beverages may use the declaration route for twelve months before the deeming rule bites.
Compliance is monthly. Every manufacturer of goods liable to the surtax must send the proper officer, on or before the 20th of each month, a correct and legible return in duplicate in the Commissioner's approved form, showing the quantity of goods removed from their premises or otherwise disposed of in the previous month, and must remit the surtax with that return. The Commissioner or proper officer may take samples of any local or imported beverage and have the sugar content verified by a recognised standards body.
No commencement date is stated in the text; the notice was published in a Gazette Extraordinary on 9 February 2024.
What changed
- The Third Schedule of S.I. 203 of 2022 is deleted and replaced in full
- Special surtax set at US$0.001 per gram of sugar across all listed beverage headings
- The surtax is levied only on added sugar
- Beverages without labels, or whose labels omit sugar content, are deemed to contain 100 grams of sugar per litre
- Local manufacturers may use a declaration process for twelve months before the deeming rule applies
- Manufacturers must file a monthly return in duplicate by the 20th and remit the surtax with it
- The Commissioner may sample any local or imported beverage for verification by a recognised standards body
Who this affects
- beverage manufacturers and bottlers
- importers of soft drinks, juices, beer, wine and spirits
- brewers, cider makers and distillers
- maheu and opaque beer producers
- clearing agents and ZIMRA excise officers
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.