TAX MATTERS: Treatment of non-residents’ tax on fees

Non-resident tax on fees is withheld in terms income tax laws in Zimbabwe. The fees should be paid from a source within Zimbabwe to a non-resident. A non-resident person is a person other than the company, a partnership or foreign company not ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe.

A person includes a juristic person i.e. a company, a body of persons corporate or unincorporated, a local authority, a deceased estate or insolvent estate and a private trust.
A foreign company refers to a body corporate that is incorporated outside Zimbabwe. The residence status of the payee or that of the payer is decided by reference to the date on which the fees are paid by the payer. On the other hand, a partnership shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe if at least one member of such partnership is ordinarily resident in Zi