Before you start

A valid permit or other lawful status
Employer registration for PAYE
A Zimbabwean bank account or mobile money wallet for salary

Step-by-step

1
Establish which table your pay falls under
ZIMRA publishes a ZWG PAYE table and a foreign-currency PAYE table. For salaries with both a local and a USD component, ZIMRA's guidance is to use the USD tables and apportion the tax due accordingly. If your offer is in dollars, the USD table is your table.
Via employerWho: Your employer
2
Understand the USD scale
On ZIMRA's most recently published foreign-currency monthly table — January to December 2025 — the first US$100 is free, then 20% to US$300, 25% to US$1,000, 30% to US$2,000, 35% to US$3,000, and 40% above that, each band carrying a deduction that makes it a marginal rate rather than a cliff. Annually the top band starts at US$36,001. Check the year on the table before you model anything.
Via employerWho: Your employer
3
Add the AIDS levy
A 3% levy is calculated on the tax payable after credits and added to it. It is a levy on the tax, not on the salary, so it is small in absolute terms but it is always there.
Via employerWho: Your employer
4
Budget for the transfer tax
ZIMRA's Intermediated Money Transfer Tax applies to money moved electronically — 2 cents in the local-currency dollar, 1 cent in the US dollar, capped at US$10,150 for transactions over US$500,000. It applies to transfers, not to income, so it lands on rent, deposits and large purchases.
OnlineWho: You
5
Remit or file on time
Employers remit PAYE to ZIMRA by the 10th of the following month. If any part of your income is not taxed through payroll, that becomes your own filing obligation.
Via employerWho: Your employerBy the 10th of the following month

Documents you’ll need

Passport and permit
Employment contract stating the currency of pay
Bank or mobile money details
Any medical aid or pension certificates used for tax credits

Things most newcomers don’t know

The two tax tables are the clearest official evidence that Zimbabwe is a dual-currency economy.

A revenue authority does not maintain a parallel foreign-currency PAYE scale for a handful of edge cases. ZIMRA publishes one because a large share of formal salaries are paid in US dollars, and the guidance for mixed pay is to default to the USD table. If you want to know which currency Zimbabwe really runs on, read the tax tables rather than the legislation.

Source: ZIMRA — PAYE explained and tax tables

The transfer tax makes how you pay part of what you pay.

IMTT is charged on the movement of money, so a large one-off transfer — a deposit, a car, a year of school fees — carries a cost that a cash payment does not. That is a large part of why some Harare landlords still ask for cash, and it is worth asking about before you negotiate a rent.

Source: ZIMRA — Public Notice 9 of 2024, Finance Act 13 of 2023 highlights

There is a wealth tax on second homes.

ZIMRA's summary of the Finance Act sets a 1% annual tax on the value of a dwelling other than your principal private dwelling where that value exceeds US$250,000, capped at US$50,000 a year. It is unusual in the region and it catches anyone thinking about a second property here as an investment.

Source: ZIMRA — Public Notice 9 of 2024

Your employer's tax clearance is part of your permit file.

A ZIMRA tax clearance certificate for the employing company is on the Department of Immigration's document list for a temporary employment permit. A company in arrears with the revenue authority cannot complete your immigration paperwork, which is a question worth asking before you accept the job.

Source: Department of Immigration — Temporary Employment Permit requirements

Common mistakes to avoid

Comparing a Zimbabwean offer on the headline salary without asking which currency it is paid in — the tax table, and the real value, both follow from that.
Forgetting the 3% AIDS levy when modelling net pay.
Moving a large sum electronically without pricing the transfer tax.
Assuming ZIMRA's published tables are current for this year — check the year on the table before you use it.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.