Landlords and tenants have raised concerns after the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) asked for details of property owners and tenants at the upmarket Borrowdale Brooke Golf Estate, including names, lease start dates and contact details. The Borrowdale Brooke Homeowners Association said it had sought external legal advice and concluded it was legally obliged to provide […]
Landlords and tenants have raised concerns after the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) asked for details of property owners and tenants at the upmarket Borrowdale Brooke Golf Estate, including names, lease start dates and contact details.
The Borrowdale Brooke Homeowners Association said it had sought external legal advice and concluded it was legally obliged to provide the information under Section 39 of the Income Tax Act.
While the request has prompted questions among owners and tenants, it is in line with a wider tax administration framework announced by the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Mthuli Ncube, in the 2026 Budget.
The issue is about bringing rental income and businesses operating from properties into the tax net.
Presenting the 2026 Budget in November last year, Ncube said significant business activity in commercial and non-commercial buildings continued to escape taxation, while many property owners, managers and tenants remained unregistered with ZIMRA.
“Despite existing presumptive tax provisions, significant business activities undertaken in commercial and non-commercial buildings continue to escape the tax net,” he said.
He said existing legislation, which prevents the deduction of rent paid to unregistered property owners and managers, did not adequately deal with cases where buildings were managed informally or where owners and managers collected rent without paying the required taxes.
In response, Treasury proposed a framework to make property owners and managers more visible to ZIMRA and give the authority greater access to information on properties used for business.
Ncube proposed that all commercial and non-commercial properties where business activities are conducted must be registered with ZIMRA.
Owners and managers are also required to submit quarterly tenant registers, occupancy lists and rental schedules to the tax authority.
In practice, this would allow ZIMRA to establish who occupies a property, when the tenancy began and what rental arrangements are in place. The information is particularly important where businesses operate informally and may not be registered for tax.
Treasury also proposed shifting part of the responsibility for tax compliance to landlords and property managers.
Where informal sector operators do not voluntarily comply with their presumptive tax obligations, owners or managers would be required to withhold 10 per cent of the rental income payable to those operators.
Ncube further proposed that an owner or manager who fails to register and account for Rental Income Tax, or fails to withhold the applicable presumptive tax, should face a penalty equivalent to the tax payable, plus interest.
The proposals also allow ZIMRA to temporarily close premises used by businesses until compliance processes have been completed.
The measures took effect from 1 January 2026.
More: The Herald
