adminindividuals for their own personal use and not commercial use. Unless the importer elects the use of tariff, which election shall be binding, flat rates are used to calculate duty where the value exceeds the traveller’s rebate or where the traveller is not due for a rebate.
Traveller’s rebate, also known as the duty-free allowance, is pegged at US$300,00 and is granted to a traveller once every calendar month on his/her first arrival in Zimbabwe.
The traveller’s rebate is the value of the goods excluding Value Added Tax where it was charged. Freight and insurance is charged at 6 percent of invoice value.
Where the importer does not have an invoice, the goods are physically examined and secondary valuation methods are used to value the goods before duty is calculated.
Where goods are commercial imports and the goods are imported by a private importer, a Form 49 assessment as opposed to a Bill of Entry (Form 21) is used to calculate and collect the duty if the value does not exceed US$1 000. Where the value exceeds US$1 000, clearance is done by way of a Bill of Entry through a registered clearing agent.
If the importer does not produce a valid tax clearance certificate (ITF263), Presumptive Tax is charged at 10 percent of the Value for Duty Purposes.
Flat rates
These are FR (a) up to FR (i) as set in the Tariff Handbook. The current rates are as follows:
Flat Rate Description of goods Rate of duty
FR (a) Liquors of all kinds 50%
FR (b) Spirits of all kinds 62,50%
FR (c) Wines of all kinds 90%
FR (d) Beverages of all kinds 110%
FR (e) Aerated beverages 70%
FR (f) Cigarettes 110%
FR (g) Books 5%
FR (h) Audio, TV sets, videos 55%
FR (i) Clothing 40% + US$1,50/kg
FR (i) Footwear 40% + US$1,00 /kg
FR (i) Other personal effects 40%
This is the generally used classification method as it is simpler and expedites movement of traffic. Flat rates are also applied to other deemed commercial importations by private importers such as FR (i) which is split into three namely footwear, clothing and other personal effects.
l Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, Legal and Corporate Services Division, 6th Floor, ZB Centre, Cnr First St/Kwame Nkrumah Ave, P O Box 4360, Harare, Tel: 04 – 790811-4, Fax: 04 – 774087, email: [email protected], website: www.zimra.co.zw
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- July 23, 2026
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