A Tax Clearance Certificate (ITF 263) is a certificate issued by the Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) to a person liable to pay tax, provided that the taxpayer’s’ tax position is satisfactory.
Benefits of having a Tax Clearance Certificate
- No 10 percent Withholding Tax is deducted when payments are made for goods and services supplied.
- No Presumptive Tax will be levied on importations.
- Tax clearance is required when bidding for tenders.
- A Tax Clearance Certificate is a pre-requisite when applying for licences issued by local authorities.
- Business counterparts have confidence in doing business with compliant taxpayers
What is required to obtain a Tax Clearance Certificate?
- The client must furnish all statutory returns required to be submitted under all Acts administered by Zimra, or making satisfactory arrangements with Zimra for the furnishing of such returns.
- The client must have paid the taxes due in terms of all the Acts administered by Zimra.
- Clients with outstanding taxes, penalties and interest must make suitable arrangements, which are approved by Zimra.
- Value Added Tax (VAT) registered clients must have their systems interfaced with Zimra servers under the fiscalisation programme. However, tax clearance certificates may be availed to clients who have made noticeable efforts to get interfaced.
Who should apply for a Tax Clearance Certificate?
The public officer of the company, or an individual duly authorised in writing to represent the following:
- A company
- A sole trader
- An individual
- Trust
- School
- Partnership
- Church
- Cooperative
- Private Business Corporations(PBC)
How to access a Tax Clearance Certificate?
The Tax Clearance Certificate is now accessible on the Zimra e-services portal using the following steps:
- Log on to the e-services portal http://efiling.zimra.co.zw
- Click on “Manage Services” and select “Submissions”
- Click the arrow on “General Tax Clearance”
- Click “Submit”
- Allow a few seconds for the system to update the status
- Click “My History” then “My Submissions” to check for your Tax Clearance Certificate
- If status says “Committed”, it means you have successfully obtained an online tax clearance certificate (ITF 263)
Click “View Document” to view and print the Tax Clearance Certificate (ITF 263)
If the status is “Failed” then contact the nearest Zimra office for assistance
How to verify Tax Clearance Certificate validity
If in doubt about the authenticity of a Tax Clearance Certificate, please verify by using the link as given below:
- Type <http://efiling.zimra.co.zw> on your Internet browser
- Under e-services, click on “Validate Tax Certificate”
- Enter the Business Partner Number (BPN) on the tax certificate in the BPN field
- Enter the “Authentication Code” as it appears on the tax certificate in the code field
- Type the “Code” for the image as shown in the field available
- Click “Verify Certificate”
- For a valid Tax Clearance Certificate, the details that will appear on the Internet page are the same as those on the Certificate being verified.
No charges for a Tax Clearance Certificate
Please note that no fee is charged for the issuance of the Tax Clearance Certificates. Clients are, therefore, encouraged to report to the Police or Zimra offices any incidents of persons charging any fees for obtaining the certificate.
Disclaimer
This article was compiled by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority for information purposes only.
Zimra shall not accept responsibility for loss or damage arising from use of material in this article and no liability will attach to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.
- To contact — ZIMRA: WhatsApp line : +263 782 729 862 – Visit our website : www. zimra.co.zw – Follow us on Twitter : @Zimra_11 Like us on Facebook : www.facebook.com/ZIMRA.11 – Send us an e-mail : [email protected]/[email protected] – Call us (Head Office) : 04 –758891 /5; 790813-4; 781345; 751624; 752731