Former finance minister Tendai Biti has strongly condemned the government’s new presumptive tax framework, saying ordinary citizens are being crushed under excessive taxation.
Biti argued that Zimbabweans have now become “the most heavily taxed people in Africa,” warning that the Mnangagwa administration risks suffocating livelihoods with its latest levies.
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) recently issued Public Notice 51 of 2025, spelling out fresh presumptive tax scales aimed at the informal sector. Although these measures were already contained in the Finance Act of 2024, gazetted last October, their enforcement has reignited public anger.
The new taxes target a wide range of small operators, including:
Vendors and informal traders
Small-scale miners
Commuter transport operators
Driving schools
Hair salons
Cross-border traders
Bottle stores and restaurants
According to the schedule:
Informal traders must pay 10% of their rental fees.
Hairdressers are charged US$5 per chair every month.
Cross-border traders must forfeit 20% of the duty value of goods they import.
Some operators could be forced to pay as much as US$500 monthly.
Critics fear the new system will stifle small businesses and fuel economic hardship, with Biti branding the taxes “regressive and punitive.”
