Zambia · Tax
Key Facts
- The country — Zambia is a landlocked southern African country of roughly 21 million people, with copper as its main export. It has spent years restructuring debt it could not pay.
- The problem — The Zambia Revenue Authority, which collects taxes and customs duties, put outstanding tax debt at 71.3 billion kwacha (about US$3.6 billion) at the end of 2025.
- Why now — Reuters reports that Zambia wants a new IMF loan programme agreed by the end of the year. President Hakainde Hichilema reappointed finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane on 14 September 2026.
- What happened — On 17 September 2026 Zambia opened a scheme that writes off all accrued penalties and interest for taxpayers who pay the principal tax they owe. It runs to 31 December 2026.
- The rules — The Extended Voluntary Disclosure Scheme covers tax periods up to 31 August 2026 and taxes from income tax and VAT to mineral royalties and customs duties. Relief is proportionate to principal paid.
- What it means for you — If you run or own a company in Zambia, reviewing your books before 31 December can erase penalties and interest. You still pay the tax itself.
- Still open — Cases under fraud investigation or in litigation are excluded unless proceedings are withdrawn. No new law sits behind the scheme, only the revenue chief’s existing powers under three tax acts.
Zambia’s tax collector is offering businesses a clean slate on old penalties and interest, as long as they pay the tax itself. The window closes on 31 December 2026.
The Zambia tax amnesty is now open, and the country’s tax collector wants businesses to go looking for old mistakes. Taxpayers who pay overdue principal tax by 31 December 2026 will have accrued penalties and interest written off.
The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), the agency that collects taxes and customs duties, calls it the Extended Voluntary Disclosure Scheme. It opened on Thursday 17 September 2026.
On Monday 21 September, the authority urged firms to review their books now rather than wait for the deadline. For a government chasing billions in arrears, the scheme is a bet that forgiveness will bring in cash faster than enforcement.
A launch days after a reappointment
Situmbeko Musokotwane, the minister of finance and national planning, launched the scheme at an event in Lusaka, the capital. President Hakainde Hichilema had reappointed him on 14 September 2026, after the August general election, Reuters reported.
Musokotwane has held the post since 2021, steering Zambia through a long debt restructuring. Reuters said Zambia is aiming to agree a new International Monetary Fund loan programme by the end of the year.
He said the waiver is not a gift to people who avoid paying tax. The scheme “is not a reward for non-compliance,” he said, according to the ZRA’s account of the launch.
He called it “a carefully designed compliance intervention” for eligible taxpayers. It gives them, he said, a structured opportunity “to correct past omissions” and meet their obligations consistently.
What the scheme forgives, and on what legal basis
The ZRA offers a 100 percent waiver of accrued penalties and interest once the principal tax is settled. It covers penalties and interest for all tax periods up to 31 August 2026.
No new law or regulation created the scheme. The ZRA guide describes it as “a time-bound administrative program” resting on the commissioner-general’s existing powers.
Those powers come from the Income Tax Act, the Value Added Tax Act and the Customs and Excise Act. The guide adds that relief is granted “at the sole discretion of the Commissioner General”, currently Dingani Banda.
Two groups can apply. One is taxpayers with income or imports never declared; the other is those who declared tax but still owe penalties and interest.
The scope is wide. It includes income tax, pay-as-you-earn payroll tax, value added tax, mineral royalties, turnover tax, withholding tax and property transfer tax.
Tourism, insurance and betting levies are covered too, as are customs items such as unpaid import assessments and seized vehicles.
The fine print
The waiver is proportionate, so paying part of the debt earns only part of the relief. The ZRA guide offers a worked example.
A company owing K1,000,000 in Zambian kwacha (about US$51,000) in principal would also carry K400,000 (about US$20,400) in penalties and interest. Paying half the principal would wipe out K200,000 (about US$10,200).
The conversions use a rate of about 19.6 kwacha to the US dollar, the Bank of Zambia average for 21 September 2026. Taxpayers may also ask for a time-to-pay agreement.
All outstanding returns must be filed, and VAT-registered suppliers must use Smart Invoice, the ZRA’s electronic invoicing system. Fines are not waived, and penalties or interest already paid are not refunded.
Cases under investigation for fraud, wilful default (deliberate failure to pay) or other tax offences are excluded. So are disputes before the courts or the Tax Appeals Tribunal, unless the taxpayer withdraws them.
Taxpayers unhappy with a decision can appeal to the ZRA’s own Tax Appeals Office, at its Lusaka head office. That is an internal review, separate from the independent tribunal.
Why Zambia wants the money now
Banda told the launch that outstanding tax debt stood at K71.3 billion (about US$3.6 billion) on 31 December 2025. The Lusaka newspaper News Diggers reported his figures. Private businesses accounted for 82.2 percent of those arrears.
He said just 1,042 of some six million taxpayers produced 80 percent of tax revenue in the first quarter of 2026. The ZRA put the national compliance rate at 58 percent in 2025, according to the news site Zambia Monitor.
The authority is also trying to show it pays what it owes. Banda said the ZRA had paid K21.2 billion (about US$1.1 billion) in VAT refunds so far in 2026, mostly clearing a backlog.
Musokotwane said the government approved the programme “in order to give all stakeholders ‘a fresh start’ towards tax compliance”. He spoke at the launch, Zambia Monitor reported.
What taxpayers should do before December
Oliver Nzala, the ZRA’s manager of corporate communications, urged taxpayers to conduct “comprehensive reviews of their historical tax affairs”. His statement asked them to look for past errors, omissions or unpaid liabilities.
Penalty waivers for domestic taxes are requested through the ZRA online portal. Voluntary disclosures must be made in writing to a local ZRA office or by email to the scheme’s dedicated address.
Customs applications go by letter to the nearest customs office. Under the Zambia tax amnesty, penalties and interest accrued after 31 August 2026 are not covered, so new arrears still cost money.
Nzala named companies, small and medium-sized enterprises, employers and landlords among those who should run a tax health check, Zambia Monitor reported. The ZRA had said small and medium-sized firms recorded some of the lowest compliance levels in 2025.
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What is the Zambia tax amnesty?
It is the Extended Voluntary Disclosure Scheme run by the Zambia Revenue Authority from 17 September to 31 December 2026. Taxpayers who settle unpaid principal tax get a 100 percent waiver of accrued penalties and interest. It covers tax periods up to 31 August 2026. It applies both to undeclared income and to declared tax that is still unpaid.
Is the amnesty based on a new law?
No. The ZRA describes it as a time-bound administrative programme based on the commissioner-general’s existing powers. Those powers come from the Income Tax Act, the Value Added Tax Act and the Customs and Excise Act. The authority’s guide says relief is granted at the commissioner-general’s sole discretion.
Who cannot use it?
Taxpayers under investigation for fraud, wilful default or other tax offences are excluded. So are cases in court or before the Tax Appeals Tribunal, unless withdrawn. Fines, penalties already paid and penalties accrued after 31 August 2026 are not covered. Firms that fall behind on current obligations during the programme also lose eligibility.
Does paying part of the debt help?
Yes, but only in proportion. The waiver equals the share of principal paid, applied to the qualifying penalties and interest. Paying half the principal cancels half the penalties and interest. Taxpayers can also apply for a time-to-pay agreement to spread payments.
Sources: Zambia Revenue Authority on the launch of the scheme, ZRA guide to the Extended Voluntary Disclosure Scheme, ZRA taxpayer guide on voluntary disclosures, Zambia Monitor on the launch and VAT refunds, News Diggers on tax arrears and the taxpayer base, News Diggers on the ZRA call for reviews, Zambia Monitor on the tax health check appeal, Reuters via CNBC Africa on the finance minister’s reappointment, Bank of Zambia exchange rates
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This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. How we use AI · Report an error