Online Reporter
Debra Matabvu
Senior Reporter
GOVERNMENT will conclude the review of business taxes and regulatory levies as well as gazetting various Statutory Instruments (SIs) to legally enforce the changes during the first quarter of the year.
This comes as authorities move to remove bureaucratic barriers that hinder smooth operation and growth of businesses in all sectors of the economy. So far, Government has completed reviews in the agriculture sector — focusing on livestock, stock feed and dairy — while the tourism, transport, retail and manufacturing, broadcasting and telecommunications and energy sectors have also been examined.
In addition, authorities last week gazetted Statutory Instrument 6 of 2026 and Statutory Instrument 10 of 2026 aimed at cutting red tape, lowering operating costs and improving the ease of doing business in the transport sector.
The two SIs saw the reduction of fees charged by the Central Vehicle Registry (CVR), Road Motor Transportation (RMT) and the Vehicle Inspectorate Department (VID) and removal of the requirement for retesting public service vehicle drivers. In the next few months, Government will now work on reviewing on the remaining sectors which include health, liquor, construction and financial services.
In total, 12 sectors of the economy were selected to undergo a comprehensive review of taxes and regulatory fees to simplify the licensing and regulatory systems. In an interview last week, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, said SIs for sectors that have been reviewed will start to “trickle in” over the next few weeks.
“This is a very important programme, that the Government is implementing,” he said. “We have been reducing the costs of doing business right across all our sectors and we have made pronouncements in the transportation sector, for example.
“Cost of licensing vehicles and so forth has been brought down. The cost of the regulatory costs for the tourism sector, for the energy sector. Of course, we are publishing the SI statutory instruments bit by bit.“This is a lot of detailed work that needs to be done. We cannot do all the SIs in one day. So they are trickling in.
“The latest is on transport. Some from ZBC a few weeks ago, and so forth and we are continuing to add more sectors.”
Prof Ncube said Government will prioritise reviewing of the remaining sectors during the first quarter of the year.
“So we are looking at, for instance, the horticulture sector will be added. Energy sector, banking and finance sector,” he said.
“That’s also coming.
“The health sector is also coming. So in the first quarter of this year, we’ll cover all the remaining sectors, then the statutory instruments will follow for legal enforcement.”
During the first Cabinet meeting of last year, President Mnangagwa directed his administration to expedite the elimination of excessive regulations and punitive administrative costs imposed by ministries and Government agencies.
He said taxes, licences, permits and regulations should facilitate economic development rather than hinder progress.
Currently, the formal business environment is characterised by high tariffs and a complex regulatory framework requiring companies to comply with multiple tax and permit obligations across various agencies.
This has significantly increased operational costs, threatening business viability.
Bongani Ndlovu