Income Tax Act (Chapter 23:06) Thirteenth Schedule requires an employer to withhold and remit employees tax (PAYE) in accordance with the tax deduction tables as prescribed. The current tax tables are published by ZIMRA annually or periodically as may be necessary and can be downloaded using the link https://www.zimra.co.zw/domestic-taxes/tax-tables

The tax tables make it easier for taxpayers to compute PAYE with examples indicated on each and every tax table.  The following are important as guidelines to pick the specific rates and withhold the correct amounts of PAYE:

  • Currency
  • Tax period
  • Frequency
  • Taxable income

 

Currency

There are separate tax tables for USD and RTGS.  The currency of remuneration determines the tax table to be used.

 

Tax period

The tables vary from year to year and it is important to pick the correct table for the applicable year of assessment. Furthermore, there may be several tax tables for a single year and it is also important to select the correct period. For example, in 2020 there are tax tables for January to July and tax tables for August to December, again separately for RTGS and USD. This was caused by the fact that the year of assessment beginning on the 1st January 2020, in respect of the taxable income from employment consists of the following two periods:

·         The seven-month period beginning on the 1st January, 2020, and ending on the 31st July, 2020;

·         The five-month period beginning on the 1st August, 2020, and ending on the 31st December, 2020.

 

Frequency

The tax tables have daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly and annual categories. The specific category to be used depends on the frequency of remuneration.

 

 

Taxable income

The specific bracket to be used under the selected category depends on the employee`s taxable income. It is thus important to accurately compute the taxable income from employment as guided by the relevant legislative provisions.  Once the aforementioned indicators are applied correctly, one can go ahead to follow the examples shown on the right side of each tax table. For illustration purposes, two examples are shown below.

1.    Computation of PAYE for August 2020 for an employee who earns RTGS 25,000.00 monthly

Below is an extract from August- December 2020 RTGS tax tables

 

Monthly Table

Example
 

Rates

If an employee earns

From

-

to

       5,000.00

Multiply by

0%

Deduct

0

$80 200 per month

From

                          5,000.01

to

     15,000.00

Multiply by

20%

Deduct

     1,000.00

The tax will be calculated thus:

From

                       15,000.01

to

     30,000.00

Multiply by

25%

Deduct

     1,750.00

 

From

                       30,000.01

to

     60,000.00

Multiply by

30%

Deduct

     3,250.00

$80 200 x 35% - $6 250 =

From

                       60,000.01

to

   100,000.00

Multiply by

35%

Deduct

     6,250.00

$21,820.00 per month

From

100,000.01 and above

Multiply by

40%

Deduct

   11,250.00

  

Application of the above ZW tax table: The bracket for $25000 is as follows:

 

From

                       15,000.01

to

     30,000.00

Multiply by

25%

Deduct

     1,750.00

PAYE will be (25,000.00*25% - 1,750) which is RTGS $4,500.00

2.    Computation of PAYE for August 2020 for an employee who earns USD 250 weekly

Below is an extract for August- December 2020 USD tax tables

 

Weekly Table

Example
 

Rates

If an employee earns

From

 -

to

             15.91

Multiply by

0%

Deduct

0

$60 per week

From

                                15.92

to

             68.18

Multiply by

20%

Deduct

             3.18

The tax will be calculated thus:

From

                                68.19

to

           227.27

Multiply by

25%

Deduct

             6.59

 

From

                             227.28

to

           454.55

Multiply by

30%

Deduct

           17.95

$60 x 20% - $3.18 =

From

                             454.56

to

           681.82

Multiply by

35%

Deduct

           40.68

US $8.82

From

681.83 and above

Multiply by

40%

Deduct

           74.77

 

           

Application of the above USD tax table: The bracket for USD250.00 is as follows:

From

                             227.28

to

           454.55

Multiply by

30%

Deduct

           17.95

PAYE will be (250.00*30% - 17.95) which is USD $57.05

 

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My Taxes, My Duties: Building my Zimbabwe!!

 

Disclaimer

This article was compiled by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority for information purposes only. ZIMRA shall not accept responsibility for loss or damage arising from use of material in this article and no liability will attach to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority. 

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