18/01/2024
What you need to know about Tax Clearance Certificates in Zimbabwe.
What is an ITF263 or Tax Clearance Certificate?
• A Tax Clearance Certificate is a tax compliance certificate issued by the Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), to a person liable to pay tax, provided that the taxpayer’s tax position is satisfactory.
What is the Purpose of a tax clearance certificate?
• Tax clearance certificate enhances business compliance profile as the taxpayer deals with other businesses.
Who is required to have a tax clearance?
Tax clearance is available for anyone who is liable pay any form of tax to ZIMRA. This includes both individuals and companies.
• Individuals or companies that have paid or submitted tax returns.
• Newly registered companies that want to trade with tax clearance requiring businesses but have not yet paid tax to ZIMRA.
What are the benefits of having a valid Tax Clearance Certificate?
• No 30% Withholding Tax is deducted when payments are made for goods and services supplied.
• No Presumptive Tax will be levied on importations.
• Tax clearance is required when bidding for tenders.
• A Tax Clearance Certificate is a pre-requisite when applying for licenses issued by local authorities.
• Business counterparts have confidence in doing business with compliant taxpayers.
What is required to obtain a Tax Clearance Certificate?
• Taxpayer should have registered with ZIMRA in terms of Section 42, of the Income Tax Act.
• The taxpayer must be up to date with all statutory returns required to be submitted under all Acts administered by ZIMRA, for the tax heads the taxpayer is registered for.
• The taxpayer must be up to date with all the payments in terms of all the Acts administered by ZIMRA.
• Taxpayers with outstanding tax obligations must approach ZIMRA for approved arrangements before making the application
• Taxpayers should ensure that their master data information is correct and up to date. Master data includes the following Physical Address, Email Address, Telephone Number, Bank Accounts and Industry Classification. Where email addresses being used are not the ones that are in the database, kindly fill in Rev 2 form obtainable from the ZIMRA website.
• Taxpayers registered for Value Added Tax (VAT), should ensure that they are fully interfaced for multi-currency with their invoice/ receipts showing the currency of transaction.
Procedure for getting a tax clearance certificate
The procedure for obtaining tax clearance in Zimbabwe is as follows:
Option 1 (easy method): Get a tax consultant to do it for you.
Option 2 (a bit more complicated): Register with ZIMRA, submit all required documentation and apply for the tax clearance certificate.
Feel free to contact +263775 734 119 for more information on obtaining a Tax Clearance Certificate for your business.
