HARARE
–
Finance
minister
Mthuli
Ncube
on
Thursday
announced
a
fast
food
fat
tax,
a
raid
on
income
from
betting
and
new
measures
to
tax
small
companies
as
the
cash-strapped
government
turned
to
even
more
creative
ways
to
boost
revenues.
Punters
will
see
10
percent
of
their
winning
bets
withheld
as
tax,
Ncube
told
MPs
in
the
National
Assembly
while
presenting
the
2025
national
budget
statement.
“Honourable
Members
would
be
aware
that
betting
is
popular
in
nature,
as
indicated
by
the
proliferation
of
sports
betting
houses
countrywide,”
Ncube
said.
“Sports
betting
punters
receive
income
from
winnings,
which
is
currently
not
taxable
under
personal
income
tax.
To
include
punters
in
the
tax
base,
I
propose
to
introduce
a
10
percent
withholding
tax
on
gross
winnings
of
sports
betting
punters,
with
effect
from
January
1,
2025.”
Ncube
announced
a
reduction
to
his
special
surtax
on
beverages’
sugar
content
announced
in
February,
but
announced
new
taxes
on
fast
foods
to
promote
healthy
living.
He
told
MPs:
“The
government,
in
February
2024,
introduced
a
special
surtax
of
US$0.001/g
on
added
sugar
contained
in
specified
beverages.
The
tax
is
applied
uniformly
on
both
ready
to
drink
and
cordials
or
concentrated
beverages.
“Representations
from
manufacturers
indicate
that
cordials,
due
to
their
concentrated
nature,
have
a
higher
sugar
content,
hence,
attract
a
higher
effective
tax
as
compared
to
ready-to-drink
beverages.
Common
practice,
however,
requires
that
the
tax
be
based
on
the
sugar
content
of
the
diluted
product.
“In
order
to
create
a
level
playing
field
between
ready-to-drink
and
cordials,
I
propose
to
review
the
Special
Surtax
on
Beverages’
Sugar
Content
on
cordials
from
US$0.001/g
to
US$0.0005/g,
with
effect
from
January
1,
2025.”
Ncube
said
“highly
processed
food
has
been
identified
as
one
of
the
factors
responsible
for
the
prevalence
of
obesity
and
associated
non-communicable
diseases,
hence,
the
need
for
government
to
promote
responsible
consumption
of
such
foods.”
A
fast
foods
tax
of
0.5
percent
on
the
sales
value
will
come
into
effect
from
January.
The
tax
will
be
imposed
on
sales
of
pizza;
burgers
and
hot
dogs;
shawarma;
French
fries;
chicken;
doughnuts
and
similar
products;
and
tacos.
“It
is
envisaged
that
the
proposed
tax
will
go
a
long
way
in
encouraging
operators
to
adopt
culinary
that
promote
healthy
eating,”
Ncube
said.
The
finance
minister
is
also
squeezing
the
informal
sector
to
contribute
taxes
–
from
small
grocery
shops,
hardware
operators
to
boutiques.
He
said:
“A
survey
into
the
operations
of
selected
enterprises
from
the
emerging
sector
shows
that
a
number
of
operators
are
engaged
in
significant
economic
activities,
hence,
qualify
to
contribute
to
the
fiscus
through
personal
and
corporate
income
taxes,
as
opposed
to
presumptive
tax.
“Notwithstanding
that
the
beneficial
owners
or
directors
of
such
companies
can
maintain
books
of
accounts,
operators
deliberately
conceal
records
from
the
tax
administrator,
under
the
pretext
that
such
operators
do
not
have
capacity
to
keep
records,
which
is
tantamount
to
tax
avoidance
and
evasion.”
He
said
he
would
be
prescribing
for
mandatory
registration
for
corporate
and
personal
income
tax
fabric
merchandisers;
clothing
merchandisers/boutiques;
spare
parts
dealers;
car
dealers;
grocery
and
kitchenware
merchandisers;
hardware
operators
and
lodges.
“I
propose
that
the
above-mentioned
operators
be
mandated
to
regularise
registration
of
their
operations
with
the
Zimbabwe
Revenue
Authority,
transact
through
point-of-sale
machines
and
maintain
records
of
all
transactions
by
January
1,
2025.”
Ncube
said
he
would
empower
ZIMRA
to
temporarily
close
businesses
which
fail
to
adhere
to
the
requirements
including
failure
to
register
for
tax
purposes
until
such
registration
and
payment
of
applicable
taxes
are
completed.
Small
businesses
failing
to
comply
will
be
compelled
to
pay
corporate
tax
of
between
US$9,000
up
to
US$15,000
per
quarter
in
the
case
of
hardware
stores.
Individuals
who
converted
residential
properties
to
business
properties
will
now
be
subject
to
rental
income
tax
at
a
rate
of
25
percent,
he
said.
Any
company
or
organisation
using
rented
premises
will
be
compelled
to
disclose
to
ZIMRA
the
rental
expense,
the
location
and
owner
of
the
property
for
purposes
of
rental
income
tax.
Proposing
a
freeze
on
government
recruitment,
Ncube
said
the
2025
allocation
for
employment
costs
of
ZiG
152.6
billion
or
56.4
percent
of
revenue
was
now
above
the
fiscal
rule
threshold
of
containing
employment
costs
at
maximum
of
50
percent
of
revenue.
“To
address
this
unsustainable
position,
revenue
enhancement
measures
will
be
implemented,
whilst
also
limiting
the
recruitment
of
additional
personnel
only
to
critical
sectors
such
as
health
and
education.
The
rationalisation
exercise
will
also
benefit
from
the
recent
Job
Evaluation
Exercise,
which
was
undertaken
by
the
Public
Service
Commission,
with
the
aim
to
have
a
fit
for
purpose
and
professional
civil
service,
with
the
capacity
to
deliver
quality
public
services,”
he
said.
In
rare
good
news,
Ncube
said
he
was
revising
the
tax
bands
following
a
recent
devaluation
of
the
ZiG
“to
provide
relief
to
taxpayers.”
The
new
tax-free
threshold
is
ZiG
2,800
per
month.
Employees
earning
between
ZiG
2,801
and
ZiG
8,400
will
pay
20
percent
tax
on
income,
rising
to
40
percent
for
workers
earning
more
than
ZiG
84,000.
The
finance
minister
said
revenues
during
2025
are
expected
to
top
US$7.5
billion
against
expenditures
of
US$7.7
billion.
He
expects
Zimbabwe’s
economy
to
grow
by
6
percent
in
2024,
from
2
percent
this
year.
Economist
Tinashe
Murapata
poured
cold
water
on
Ncube’s
growth
projects.
“He
argues
that
Zimbabwe
will
be
one
of
the
fastest
growing
economies
in
the
world
and
yet
at
the
same
time
introduces
hefty
consumer
taxes,”
Murapata
said.
Kathryn
