Renting Out Property in Zimbabwe (2026): The New 15% Presumptive Rental Income Tax

What actually changed on 1 January 2026

If you own a shop, an office, a warehouse, a cottage rented to a hair salon, or any premises where your tenant runs a business, Zimbabwe's rental tax rules changed underneath you at the start of 2026 - and the change is not a small one.

Under the Finance Act, 2025 (Act No. 7 of 2025), ZIMRA introduced a Presumptive Rental Income Tax with effect from 1 January 2026. The rate is 15% of the gross rental received, and it is a final tax. Those two words carry almost all of the weight in this article, because "final tax" means something very specific: no deductions or allowances are permitted in working it out, and the tax cannot be claimed as a credit, a refund, or a set-off against any other income tax you pay.

The details below come from ZIMRA Public Notice 08 of 2026, issued on 5 February 2026 - the Authority's own published guidance, not a summary of it. Where a figure is not established by a primary source, this guide says so rather than guessing, which is the same standard we apply in our complete Zimbabwe tax guide.

Who this hits - and who it does not

The test is not "do you own property". The test is what your tenant does on the premises.

You are a "registrable proprietor" if you are the landlord, owner, lessee or sub-lessee of land or premises and you receive rent from a tenant who is there to conduct business, trade or an occupation. That includes sub-letting: if you rent a building and then sub-let part of it to a business, you are caught in your own right.

The exclusion is equally clear. The part occupied as residential premises is not liable to presumptive tax. ZIMRA gives the mixed-use example directly: one building with offices and residential units. The proprietor does not account for presumptive rental income tax on the rent from the residential tenants.

So if you let a family a house in Bulawayo, or a room to a lodger, this particular tax is not aimed at you. That is not the same as saying residential rent is untaxed - it remains ordinary income you are expected to declare, which is the point most landlords get wrong. See the section on the other taxes below, and our guide to renting in Zimbabwe for the tenant side of the same relationship.

Two more categories are named explicitly:

• Zimbabweans in the diaspora who own land or property leased to anyone trading on it must register. Owning from abroad is not an exemption.
• Non-resident registrable proprietors must appoint a resident representative in Zimbabwe.

What 15% of gross actually costs you

Because there are no deductions, the arithmetic is unusually simple - and that simplicity is the sting.

Take a landlord receiving US$1,200 a month from a retail tenant, so US$14,400 a year gross.

• Presumptive rental income tax: 15% x US$1,200 = US$180 a month, or US$2,160 a year.
• Agent commission, roof repairs, council rates, security, the borehole pump that failed in March: none of it reduces that US$2,160.

Now compare that with the older route, where rental income was declared through self-assessment and taxed on the profit. ZIMRA's own published rates page puts income of an individual from trade and investments at 25%, with the AIDS levy at 3% of the tax chargeable - an effective 25.75%. (ZIMRA's rates page does not date that table, so confirm the rate for your year of assessment before relying on it.)

On the same US$14,400 with US$5,000 of genuine deductible expenses: taxable profit US$9,400, tax US$2,350, AIDS levy US$70.50 - US$2,420.50, which is more than the presumptive US$2,160.

But push expenses up to US$9,000: profit US$5,400, tax US$1,350, levy US$40.50 - US$1,390.50, comfortably less than US$2,160.

The break-even sits at roughly 42% of gross rent in deductible expenses. Below that, a flat 15% of gross is the cheaper outcome; above it, being taxed on profit would have served you better. The catch is that you do not choose - which regime applies is decided by your registration history, not by which one suits your building.

The split that decides your regime

This is the part landlords most often misread, so take it slowly:

• If you were registered and submitting returns and payments up to 31 December 2025, you continue to declare rental income through self-assessment at the normal income tax rates. You are not moved onto presumptive tax. You must, however, still submit a schedule of the properties you lease out and the details of your tenants.
• If you were not registered with ZIMRA before 31 December 2025, you must register and pay presumptive rental income tax from 1 January 2026.
• Anyone registering from 1 January 2026 onwards pays and remits presumptive rental income tax.

In plain terms: the compliant were left where they were, and the previously invisible were brought in on a flat, deduction-free basis.

The registration and payment calendar

The deadlines are monthly, not annual, which is a real change of rhythm for landlords used to a once-a-year return.

1. Register by 1 January 2026 if you were already receiving rent, or within 30 days of becoming a registrable proprietor.
2. Submit a schedule of the properties being leased out, with tenant details.
3. File the return by the 5th day of the following month.
4. Pay the tax by the 10th day of the month following the month the rent was received.
5. Notify ZIMRA of any change of address or cessation.

ZIMRA also states the point flatly: failure to register does not relieve you of liability to pay the tax. The debt accrues whether or not you ever filled in a form.

Estate agents are now gatekeepers

If your rent flows through an estate agent, an intermediary, a trustee or a sub-lessee, that person is deemed a statutory agent and is required to pay the tax where the proprietor has not, remit it to ZIMRA, and issue a withholding certificate in the prescribed form.

ZIMRA's instruction to agents is emphatic: the agent must verify, before disbursing any money, whether the presumptive rental income tax has been paid or not, and retain proof accordingly.

Practically, this means your managing agent has both the authority and the obligation to hold back tax before paying you out. If you use an agent, ask now - in writing - how they are handling this, and insist on the withholding certificate. Do not discover the arrangement from a short payment.

Your tenant can be turned into the collector

This provision surprises people. Where the proprietor or the agent fails to remit the tax, the Commissioner may appoint the tenant to pay the tax directly to ZIMRA, out of future rentals.

Because that puts a tenant in an obviously exposed position, the law protects them: a tenant so appointed is protected from eviction or rental escalation for a period of three months solely because they complied with the tax obligation.

Read that from both sides. As a landlord, non-compliance can end with your own tenant redirecting your rent to ZIMRA and being legally shielded from the two levers you would normally reach for. As a business tenant, if you receive such an instruction, it is lawful, and you have three months of protection - so put the instruction and the dates in writing and keep the proof of every payment.

The taxes that do not go away

Presumptive rental income tax does not replace anything. ZIMRA lists what continues to run alongside it:

• VAT. Where the rental is subject to VAT, VAT still applies, calculated on the rentals, at 15.5% (the rate set by the same Finance Act No. 7 of 2025 from 1 January 2026 - never use the old 15% figure). Compulsory VAT registration bites where taxable supplies exceed or are expected to exceed US$25,000 in a 12-month period (ZIMRA's threshold, effective 1 January 2024) - which a couple of decent commercial units can clear on their own. Our VAT calculator will show you what that adds to a rent invoice.
• The informal trader's tax - 10% of rent. Landlords must continue collecting this from eligible tenants. ZIMRA is explicit that this is a tax on the tenant's income, not on the landlord - you are the collection point, not the taxpayer.
• PAYE, non-residents' tax and other withholding taxes are unaffected and operate independently. If you employ a caretaker or a security guard, your PAYE obligations are unchanged.
• IMTT. Rent moving electronically still attracts the 2% intermediated money transfer tax on USD transactions. There is a bitter twist here: the 2026 reforms made IMTT tax-deductible - but a presumptive landlord permitted no deductions at all cannot use that relief. Our IMTT calculator shows the drag on a year of rent collections.

ZIMRA's closing instruction on this is one line: the proprietor must be registered for all tax types that affect him or her.

What non-compliance costs

• Failure to remit may result in recovery of the outstanding tax plus a penalty equal to 100% of the unpaid tax - the liability doubles.
• The Commissioner may appoint your tenant as agent to pay outstanding taxes from future rentals.
• Taxpayers already registered for income tax are told to clear their tax debts as part of the transition.

A 100% penalty on a US$2,160 annual liability is another US$2,160. On a small commercial property, two years of quiet non-compliance can wipe out a year of net rent entirely.

A practical checklist

1. Classify every tenant as business or residential. Only the business portion is caught.
2. Establish whether you were registered and filing before 31 December 2025 - this single fact decides which regime you are in.
3. Register with ZIMRA if you are not already, and file the schedule of properties and tenants.
4. Put the 5th (return) and the 10th (payment) in a recurring monthly reminder. This is a monthly obligation now, not an annual one.
5. Ask your estate agent, in writing, how they are withholding and remitting - and demand the withholding certificate.
6. Check whether your rental turnover crosses the US$25,000 VAT threshold.
7. If you are abroad, appoint a resident representative in Zimbabwe.
8. Re-run your yield on an after-tax basis before your next purchase - see buying a home in Zimbabwe.
9. If you own through a company, reconcile this with your other obligations in our business taxes guide and company registration guide.

Frequently asked questions

I rent one house to a family. Do I owe this tax? No. Presumptive rental income tax applies to rent from tenants trading on the premises; the residential portion is not liable. But residential rental income is still income, and being outside this tax is not the same as being outside the tax system - talk to ZIMRA or a registered tax practitioner about how you should be declaring it.

My tenant lives in the house and runs a small business from the front room. What then? ZIMRA's mixed-use rule splits the building: the part occupied for residential purposes is not liable, the part used for trade is. Where the split is genuinely unclear, get it ruled on in writing rather than assuming the answer that suits you - the penalty for guessing wrong is 100% of the unpaid tax.

Can I deduct the new roof, or the agent's commission? No. It is a final tax on gross rent, with no deductions or allowances permitted, and it cannot be set off against other income tax. This is precisely why expense-heavy properties are worse off under it.

I live in the UK and rent out a shop in Harare. Am I caught? Yes. ZIMRA names diaspora owners explicitly, and non-resident proprietors must appoint a resident representative in Zimbabwe. See our guide to side business money for how to keep foreign-held Zimbabwean income properly recorded.

What if my agent has been deducting something already? Ask for the withholding certificate in the prescribed form. Agents are deemed statutory agents and must verify payment before disbursing money to you - so there should be documentation, and you are entitled to see it.

Is there a capital gains figure here for when I eventually sell? We do not publish a Zimbabwean CGT rate anywhere on this site, because we found unreconciled conflicts between ZIMRA-sourced figures and we will not print a number we cannot stand behind. For a disposal, go to ZIMRA directly or to a registered tax practitioner.

Last reviewed: August 2026. General information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Figures are from ZIMRA Public Notice 08 of 2026 and ZIMRA's published rates and VAT registration pages; confirm your own position with ZIMRA or a registered tax practitioner before acting.