By Patience Gondo
THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) has announced that tax clearance certificates for the 2026 tax period will now be issued automatically to compliant taxpayers.
The move is likely to ease pressure on businesses and individuals who rely on the document to operate.
In a public notice on Wednesday, ZIMRA said the 2026 Tax Clearance Certificates (ITF263) will be automatically issued starting December 27 2025 but only to taxpayers who are fully compliant with tax obligations.
“The automatic issuance of ITF263 will only happen to taxpayers who are compliant,” ZIMRA said.
Under the new system compliance begins with timely submission of all statutory returns.
ZIMRA said taxpayers must be up to date with returns for all applicable taxes, including Income Tax, VAT, PAYE, Withholding Taxes and Capital Gains Tax.
“Returns must be submitted by their statutory due dates,”ZIMRA said. “any outstanding returns must be submitted prior to the consideration of tax clearance issuance.”
ZIMRA also warned against misuse of NIL returns saying that taxpayers declaring NIL are regarded as not trading.
“If you are submitting NIL returns it means you are not trading so don’t apply for a Tax Clearance,” said ZIMRA advising such taxpayers to approach ZIMRA offices if clearance is required.
Full payment of taxes is another key requirement. ZIMRA said all taxes owed including principal amounts, penalties and interest, must be settled in full. Taxpayers with arrears will only be considered compliant if they have an approved payment plan and are adhering to it consistently.
The authority also tightened requirements around fiscalisation.
All VAT registered taxpayers must be registered on the Fiscalisation Data Management System (FDMS). Fiscal devices must be operational properly configured and connected to ZIMRA systems.
“Daily or periodic fiscal data uploads must be current,” ZIMRA said.
In a shift that affects daily business operations, ZIMRA said tax clearance certificates will now only be valid for one month.
This means taxpayers must remain compliant throughout the year to continue receiving monthly clearances.
“Any lapse in compliance will result in the suspension of the subsequent month’s clearance,” said ZIMRA.
“All taxpayers must submit their returns and make payments in full on or before the due dates,” ZIMRA said. cautioning that failure to comply will result in penalties and/or prosecution.
The notice was issued as part of ZIMRA’s push to strengthen compliance while reducing administrative bottlenecks for taxpayers who play by the rules.