By Ziyah News Reporter
LANDLORDS who have been quietly collecting rental income without declaring it for tax have been put on notice, with Government warning that the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) is coming after property owners.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Nick Mangwana, delivered warning in a post on his official x account on Tuesday.
Mangwana said there was nothing new about the requirement to pay tax on qualifying rental income.
What is changing, he said, is the intensity of enforcement.
“RENTAL INCOME IS INCOME – AND IT MUST BE TAXED,” Mangwana said in a post on X.
He said a property that generates rental income is effectively an income-producing venture and, like other businesses that make money, should contribute to the national fiscus.
“This is not a new policy it’s the law. What is new is the enforcement approach,” he said.
Mangwana said ZIMRA had begun actively identifying property owners earning rental income, with enforcement initially targeting affluent suburbs where rental earnings are believed to be higher.
The strategy, he explained, is based on a simple calculation: Government wants to deploy its enforcement resources where they can generate significant revenue.
That approach could spell trouble for landlords who have previously treated rental payments as private earnings rather than taxable income.
Mangwana made the Government’s position unmistakable.
“If a property is raising money, it should contribute to the national coffers like any other income-generating venture,” he said.
‘Expect ZIMRA to come calling’
The strongest warning was directed at property owners who may have failed to declare their rental earnings.
“If you earn from property, expect ZIMRA to come calling,” Mangwana said.
The remarks are likely to send a chill through landlords who have collected rental income for years without considering their tax obligations.
With ZIMRA now actively identifying property owners, landlords could face increasing pressure to account for income generated from their properties and ensure that their tax affairs are in order.
The Government’s move also signals a more aggressive push to capture revenue from economic activities that may previously have escaped close scrutiny.