Online Reporter
Susan Chirikure
W
hat if the 2026 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy could protect every family’s future, increase formalisation and support Vision 2030 — without any cost to Government?
From the home in Harare, to the farm in Mashonaland, to shares in a family business in Bulawayo — the intention is the same across every community: to pass on what has been built with clarity, dignity and peace.
This proposal requires no expenditure, no new bureaucracy and no revenue loss. It is simply an alignment of tax principles.
A principle already in our law
Our tax system already recognises that moving assets within the same group is not a sale. When companies under common control restructure, Capital Gains Tax is deferred. The assets remain within the group. Continuity is preserved.
The same principle can support families. When a parent donates a home, a stand, a farm, or shares in a family business into a trust for immediate family, it is also continuity. There is no disposal to a third party. The purpose is protection and orderly succession.
Currently, such donations attract CGT and Transfer Duty at the time of transfer. For many households, that upfront cost means planning is delayed or never happens.
Why this matters now: A growing awareness
There is increased awareness among Zimbabweans about the role of trusts. A tool that was previously accessible to very few is now being understood and considered by families across income levels and communities.
Families are learning that trusts can help to:
1. Protect shelter for children and dependants
2. Ensure continuity of family businesses
3. Provide clarity and reduce disputes in the event of death
4. Support orderly arrangements during divorce or financial difficulty
This growing awareness is positive. It reflects a desire to plan responsibly.
However, in the absence of such structures, families remain exposed.
Death can trigger Estate Duty, lengthy estate administration, legal costs and delays that leave dependants without access to shelter.
Divorce can result in the forced sale of a family home.
Creditors can attach assets built over a lifetime due to one business or personal difficulty.
Taxes become payable on transfers that are not true sales, but acts of protection.
When families seek to act on this knowledge by donating fixed assets or shares into a trust, the immediate CGT and Transfer Duty cost can become a barrier.
The result is that planning is postponed, and the very risks that trusts are meant to address remain. Whether it is a primary residence, an additional property, agricultural land, or shares in a business — the desire to protect family and legacy is shared.
The proposal: Two simple measures aligned to vision 2030
What if the Mid-Year Policy introduced two measures to support families, consistent with principles already in our law and with Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030?
1. Donation to family trust relief
Permit Zimbabwean citizens and residents to donate fixed assets and shares into a family trust for the benefit of immediate family, with CGT and Transfer Duty deferred. Tax becomes payable only when the trust disposes of the asset to a person outside the family.
2. Principal private residence rollover in trust
Extend the existing PPR rollover to assets held in a family trust. Where a trust sells a principal private residence and acquires another residence of equal or greater value within a specified period, the capital gain is deferred.
This mirrors the relief already available to individuals and ensures families in trusts are not disadvantaged.
Supporting measures
Government can further support this through existing channels by providing low-cost legal assistance for low-income homeowners to set up trusts, and by improving financial and legal awareness through the education system for future homeowners.
Administration
Both measures would apply to title deeds and other recognised forms of tenure, in both urban and rural areas, and be supported by simplified processes through ZIMRA and the Ministry of Justice.
Benefits for Government, families families and Vision 2030
1. For Government: No cost. No revenue loss. Only deferment. Revenue is preserved and collected when assets leave the family. Increased formalisation and record-keeping of assets. More efficient administration of estates. Reduced pressure on courts and social services. The majority of families will continue without trusts, so fiscal impact is minimal.
2. For families: Greater certainty in succession. Protection of shelter. Mitigation of Estate Duty and other costs. Continuity for family businesses. Reduced potential for disputes.
3. For Vision 2030: Strong, stable households are the foundation of an upper-middle-income society.
By promoting asset formalisation, intergenerational wealth transfer, and social cohesion, these measures directly support the goals of NDS1: inclusive growth, poverty reduction, and human capital development.
In short: Government has nothing to lose and everything to gain. The tax is not forgone. The shelter is preserved. The burden on the state is reduced.
A step worth taking
What if the 2026 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy chose to support families in planning for tomorrow — at no cost to the fiscus?
By providing relief on the donation of assets to family trusts, extending the PPR rollover to trusts, and supporting access through low-cost legal aid and education, government can enable succession without an immediate tax cost.
It affirms a clear principle: tax transactions, not the act of protecting family. And it moves us closer to the Zimbabwe we want by 2030.
What if we secured every family’s tomorrow, starting today?
