Finance (Amendment of Sections 22B and 22G) Regulations, 2024
Intermediated money transfer tax is reset to 2% per ZiG or US dollar transacted, capped at a flat US$10 150 on transactions of US$500 000 or more, and the withdrawal tax becomes US$0.05 on every withdrawal above US$100.
The Minister of Finance has used section 3 of the Finance Act [Chapter 23:04] to rewrite two transaction taxes so that they work in Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), the currency introduced weeks earlier. The instrument was published in a Government Gazette Extraordinary of 3 May 2024.
On the automated financial transactions tax in section 22B, paragraph (a) is replaced: for each withdrawal above the local currency equivalent of one hundred United States dollars, the tax is the local currency equivalent of five United States cents (US$0,05). Withdrawals at or below the US$100 equivalent are not caught by that paragraph.
Section 22G, the intermediated money transfer tax (IMTT), is repealed and replaced in full. Under section 36G(2) of the Income Tax Act, the rate is two cents on every ZiG or part of a ZiG transacted, and two cents on every United States dollar or part of a dollar — a 2 per cent charge in either currency. In each case a proviso caps the tax: where a single taxable transaction is worth US$500 000 or more (at the prevailing interbank rate for ZiG), a flat IMTT of US$10 150, or its ZiG equivalent at the interbank rate, is charged instead.
Two further limbs are set out. Outbound foreign payments attract 0,02 United States dollars on every dollar or part of a dollar of the payment. And transactions in the Zimbabwe gold-backed digital token, taxed under section 36G(3), attract 0,02 United States dollars on every token or part of a token transacted.
The practical effect for ordinary users is that electronic transfers cost 2 per cent in tax whether in ZiG or USD, large corporate payments have a hard ceiling of US$10 150, and cash withdrawals above the US$100 equivalent carry a small fixed charge. The regulations state no separate commencement date.
What changed
- Automated financial transactions tax set at the local currency equivalent of US$0,05 for each withdrawal above the US$100 equivalent
- IMTT recast at 0,02 per ZiG or part thereof transacted — 2 per cent — under section 36G(2) of the Income Tax Act
- IMTT equally 0,02 on every United States dollar or part thereof transacted
- Flat IMTT cap of US$10 150 (or the ZiG equivalent at the interbank rate) on any single transaction of US$500 000 or more
- Outbound foreign payments taxed at US$0,02 per dollar or part thereof
- Zimbabwe gold-backed digital token transactions taxed at US$0,02 per token or part thereof under section 36G(3)
Who this affects
- Anyone making electronic transfers in ZiG or USD
- Banks, mobile money operators and other intermediaries collecting the tax
- Corporates making large single payments at or above US$500 000
- Businesses making outbound foreign payments
- Holders and traders of the Zimbabwe gold-backed digital token
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.