This lesson examines the machinery by which capital gains tax is actually paid over to the State, and the powers ZIMRA holds to recover it when it is not — the end of the CGT lifecycle, where a computed liability becomes money in the Consolidated Revenue Fund. It builds directly on the computation lessons (how much is owed) and the compliance lesson (CGT Compliance, Planning and Audit Risks); here the question is when, by whom, in what currency, and what happens if payment fails.

Two distinct payment timetables operate in parallel and must never be confused. The first is the final-tax deadline in Section 26 of the Capital Gains Tax Act [Chapter 23:01]: capital gains tax becomes due and payable no later than 30 days from the date title to the specified asset is formally transferred to the buyer (Section 26(1)(b)), or, for suspensive sales of immovable property (Section 18) and credit sales where ownership passes (Section 19), 30 days from the date the capital amount accrues (Section 26(1)(a)) — whichever is the relevant trigger, with Section 26(1)(c) bringing the date forward where a Part IIIA withholding date falls earlier. The second is the withholding-tax timetable in Part IIIA (Sections 22A to 22L): a depositary (conveyancer, legal practitioner, estate agent, stockbroker, financial institution) who pays sale proceeds to a seller must withhold the capital gains withholding tax and remit it to the Commissioner no later than the 3rd working day after paying the seller (Section 22C). If the depositary does not withhold, an agent must (Section 22D, also 3rd working day); if neither does, the payee (seller) must pay it themselves (Section 22E, 3rd working day). These are two different clocks — a 3-working-day collection-at-source clock and a 30-day final-payment clock — and the same transaction runs on both.

Withholding is provisional and creditable, not a separate charge. Under Section 22J, a seller who proves the withholding tax was paid receives it as a credit against the final capital gains tax, with any excess refunded; under Section 22I, over-withheld tax is refunded on a claim made within 6 years, and ZIMRA must pay the taxpayer interest if it fails to refund within 60 days of the claim or the completion of the assessment. The withholding rates (Finance Act [Chapter 23:04], Section 39) are 15% of the price on immovable property acquired after 22 February 2019 (provisional against a final 20%-of-gain assessment), 1% as a final tax on listed marketable securities (reduced from 2% by the Finance Act 7/2024 with effect from 28 December 2024), and 5% on other marketable securities. The substantive CGT rates the payment ultimately settles are, under Finance Act Section 38, 5% of the gross capital amount for assets acquired before 22 February 2019 and 20% of the capital gain for assets acquired on or after that date. Currency follows the consideration: Finance Act Section 39A requires the tax to be paid in the currency in which the gain accrued.

Late payment carries a price and a power. The price is interest under Section 26(3) at the rate fixed by the Minister by statutory instrument — currently SI 211/2022 (with effect from 1 December 2022, replacing the earlier SI 281/2019 and SI 54/2021) — running on the unpaid tax until paid in full, though the Commissioner may, in special circumstances, extend time without charging interest. A separate and additional exposure attaches to a depositary or agent who fails to withhold or remit: Section 22H makes them personally liable for the tax that should have been withheld plus a further 15%, the 15% being waivable only if the Commissioner is satisfied the failure was not intended to evade. Interest (compensatory) and the Section 22H 15% (a withholding penalty) are distinct from each other and from the additional tax that Section 23 imports from Section 46 of the Income Tax Act [Chapter 23:06] for default or omission.

Recovery is almost entirely borrowed from the Income Tax Act. CGT has no standalone enforcement code; instead Section 26(4) gives the Commissioner, for collecting CGT and interest, "the same powers as are conferred by the Taxes Act," and three cross-application sections import the apparatus wholesale: Section 23 applies Income Tax Act Sections 37 to 52 and 97B (returns, estimated/best-judgement assessment (Section 45), additional tax (Section 46), additional assessment (Section 47), recording of assessments, interest calculation); Section 24 applies Income Tax Act Sections 53 to 61 (representative taxpayers, the power to appoint an agent / garnishee (Section 58), remedies against agents and trustees, the public officer of a company (Section 61)); and Section 27 applies the offences provisions. Sitting above all of this is the structural enforcement lever unique to CGT — the Section 30A clearance-certificate chokepoint: the Registrar of Deeds may not register a property transfer, and a company's share registry may not register a share transfer, until ZIMRA certifies the CGT paid. As the High Court held in Sabeta v Commissioner-General, ZIMRA 12-HH-079, the corollary is that ZIMRA must issue the certificate once the tax is actually paid — the chokepoint verifies payment, it does not arbitrarily withhold it.

This lesson walks each payment clock and each recovery power clause by clause, works the USD arithmetic of the withholding-to-final-tax credit and of interest on late payment, distinguishes interest from the Section 22H penalty from Section 46 additional tax, integrates Sabeta 12-HH-079, Law Society of Zimbabwe & Mollat v Minister of Finance 99-SC-092 and Sibanda v Masanga 24-SC-090, and closes with comparison tables and a payment-and-recovery decision diagram.

Every tax has three logical phases: liability (is tax owed, and how much?), payment (when and how does it reach the State?), and recovery (what may the State do if it is not paid?). The earlier lessons in this CGT chapter dealt almost entirely with the first phase — what a specified asset is, what a disposal is, how to compute the gain, which exemptions and rollovers reduce it. This lesson is about the second and third phases, which is where many real-world CGT problems actually arise. A taxpayer can compute a gain perfectly and still come to grief by paying late, paying in the wrong currency, ignoring the withholding already taken, or assuming that because a conveyancer "handled it" there is nothing left to do.

The reason payment and recovery deserve their own lesson is that CGT's payment architecture is unusually layered. For most taxes there is a single due date and a single payer. CGT has two collection mechanisms operating on the same transaction:

• a collection-at-source mechanism (Part IIIA withholding), under which an intermediary takes the tax out of the proceeds before the seller ever sees them and remits it within three working days; and
• a final-assessment mechanism (Section 26), under which the seller's actual liability is computed and settled within 30 days of transfer, with the withholding credited against it.

Understanding the relationship between these two — that the withholding is a provisional payment on account of the final tax, creditable under Section 22J and refundable under Section 22I — is the single most important practical skill in CGT payment. A taxpayer who treats the 15% property withholding as the final tax overpays whenever their real gain produces a 20% liability smaller than 15% of the gross price (which is common); a taxpayer who treats it as irrelevant and pays the full 20% again double-pays.

The recovery phase matters because CGT, unlike income tax, lacks its own enforcement code. Where the VAT Act and the Income Tax Act each contain detailed collection, penalty and offence provisions, the Capital Gains Tax Act imports almost all of its recovery machinery from the Income Tax Act by cross-reference (Sections 23, 24, 26(4), 27). This "borrowing" technique — analysed for the enforcement dimension in Enforcement and Recovery of CGT by ZIMRA — means that to understand how ZIMRA recovers unpaid CGT you must read the CGT Act and the Income Tax Act together: the CGT Act tells you which Income Tax Act powers apply, and the Income Tax Act tells you what those powers are.

This is also the phase where ZIMRA's leverage is greatest. The Section 30A clearance certificate gives CGT a structural enforcement power no self-assessed tax enjoys: because no property or share transfer can register without it, an unpaid CGT physically freezes the transaction. The seller cannot get the balance of the price, the buyer cannot get title. That leverage makes CGT one of the most reliably collected taxes in the Zimbabwean system — and makes prompt, correct payment essential to closing any deal.

Where this lesson sits: it is the operational companion to CGT Compliance, Planning and Audit Risks (which covered the whole compliance cycle and the planning levers), to Enforcement and Recovery of CGT by ZIMRA (which covered the offence and assessment powers), and to the forthcoming Capital Gains Withholding Tax and Role of Intermediaries and Depositaries (which cover the withholding regime and the intermediaries in their own right). Here the focus is the money: when it is due, who pays it, and how it is recovered.

Section 26 — the final-tax payment deadline

Section 26 ("Day and place for payment of tax"), substituted by Act 16 of 2007 with effect from 1 January 2008, is the heart of CGT payment. It provides:

Section 26(1) — Tax becomes due and payable: - (a) no later than 30 days from the date a specified asset referred to in Section 18(1) (suspensive sales of immovable property) or Section 19(1) (credit sales where ownership passes) accrues to the taxpayer under those provisions; - (b) in any other case, no later than 30 days from the date title to the specified asset is formally transferred to the taxpayer; or - (c) no later than the last date specified under Sections 22C, 22D and 22E (the Part IIIA withholding dates), if that date is earlier than the date under (a) or (b).

A proviso preserves the taxpayer's right to pay through the post.

Section 26(2) — Tax is payable at any branch, division or department of ZIMRA responsible for assessing and collecting it, or through any agent ZIMRA notifies.

Section 26(3) — If tax is not paid by the due date under (1)(a) or (b), interest at a rate fixed by the Minister by statutory instrument is payable on the unpaid tax for the period from the date the Commissioner specifies until the tax is paid in full. A proviso allows the Commissioner, in special circumstances, to extend the time for payment without charging interest.

Section 26(4) — For collecting the tax and interest, the Commissioner has the same powers as are conferred by the Taxes Act for collecting income tax, and those provisions apply with any necessary changes. This single subsection is what makes the entire Income Tax Act recovery arsenal available for CGT.

The interest rate is fixed by statutory instrument: SI 281/2019, then SI 54/2021 (backdating the foreign-currency interest rate to 1 January 2020), then SI 211/2022 (with effect from 1 December 2022), are the relevant notices in the source materials.

Part IIIA — the withholding payment timetable (Sections 22A to 22L)

Section 22B charges the capital gains withholding tax, calculated under the Finance Act, for the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Section 22C — Depositaries to withhold. A depositary who, on a sale of a specified asset, pays an amount held by them to or for the seller must withhold the withholding tax and pay it to the Commissioner no later than the 3rd working day after paying the seller (or such longer time as the Commissioner allows for good cause). If the tax exceeds the amount held, the depositary pays over the full amount held (Section 22C(2)). The depositary must give the seller a certificate of the tax withheld (Section 22C(3)). Where two or more depositaries hold the price, they are severally liable up to the amount each holds (Section 22C(4)). A depositary need not withhold if a clearance certificate has been issued under Section 22C(5) on the Commissioner being satisfied that no, or less, CGT is likely and adequate arrangements exist. On an instalment sale, the withholding is computed as if the instalment were the full price (Section 22C(7)).

Section 22D — Agents to withhold what the depositary did not, also by the 3rd working day after receipt, with the same certificate, several-liability, clearance and instalment rules; a trustee receiving an amount for a beneficiary is deemed an agent (Section 22D(4)) with the powers of an agent under Income Tax Act Section 58.

Section 22E — Payee to pay the withholding tax neither depositary nor agent withheld, again by the 3rd working day after receipt, unless a clearance certificate is obtained.

Section 22F — Exemptions from withholding: none need be withheld where the amount is exempt from CGT under Section 10, nor on the sale of marketable securities by a registered unit trust (internal scheme), though it is withheld on the redemption of a unit by an investor.

Section 22FA — depositaries must register within 30 days of commencing business; failure is an offence (fine up to level three or up to one month's imprisonment).

Section 22G — depositaries (conveyancers, legal practitioners, estate agents, stockbrokers, financial institutions) must furnish monthly returns by the last day of each month, accompanied by the tax, listing the sales concluded and tax withheld.

Section 22H — Penalty for non-payment. A depositary or agent who fails to withhold or pay is personally liable for (a) the tax that should have been withheld plus (b) a further 15% of that tax. The 15% may be waived if the Commissioner is satisfied the failure was not due to an intent to evade.

Section 22I — Refund of overpayments. Over-withheld tax is refunded on a claim within 6 years of payment; the Commissioner must pay interest on a refund not made within 60 days of the claim or the completion of the assessment (whichever is later), unless the overpayment was the taxpayer's own fault.

Section 22J — Credit. Withholding tax proved paid is credited against the CGT chargeable on that gain, and any excess is refunded.

Section 22K — Part IIIA does not apply to sales concluded before 1 January 1999. Section 22L — Part IIIA was suspended for marketable securities until lifted by SI 188/2005 with effect from 17 October 2005.

Sections 23, 24 — recovery and assessment machinery imported from the Income Tax Act

Section 23 applies, mutatis mutandis, Income Tax Act Sections 37 to 52, Part VIIIA and Section 97B: the furnishing of returns and interim returns (Section 37), further returns and information (Section 39), access to public records (Section 40), production of documents and evidence on oath (Section 44), estimated assessments (Section 45), additional tax for default or omission (Section 46), additional assessments (Section 47), reduced assessments and refunds (Section 48), adjustments of tax (Section 50), the making and recording of assessments (Section 51), and the calculation of interest (Section 97B).

Section 24 applies Income Tax Act Sections 53 to 61: representative taxpayers (Section 53), their liability (Section 54), indemnity (Section 55) and personal liability (Section 56), the power to appoint an agent to pay tax from money held for the taxpayer — the garnishee power (Section 58), the Commissioner's remedies against an agent or trustee (Section 59), the power to require information (Section 60), and the public officer of a company (Section 61).

Sections 30A and 31 — the chokepoint and the reporting net

Section 30A prevents the Registrar of Deeds and the share registry from registering an acquisition unless a ZIMRA certificate confirms the CGT paid. Section 31 obliges the Registrar of Deeds, financial institutions and other persons to report disposals to ZIMRA — the information feed that lets the Commissioner detect unpaid CGT.

Finance Act — the rates the payment settles

Finance Act Section 38: 5% of gross capital amount (acquired before 22 February 2019); 20% of capital gain (acquired on/after). Section 39: withholding at 15% (immovable property), 1% final (listed securities, down from 2% per Finance Act 7/2024 w.e.f. 28 December 2024), 5% (other securities). Section 39A: payment in the currency of the consideration.

Concept 1 — Two clocks, one transaction

The defining feature of CGT payment is that two deadlines run on the same sale, and they measure different things.

The 3-working-day clock (Part IIIA) is a collection-at-source deadline. It binds the intermediary (depositary, then agent, then — failing both — the payee) and it measures from the moment the intermediary handles the money. Its purpose is to capture tax at the point the proceeds change hands, before the seller can dissipate them. It is short and unforgiving precisely because it is a cash-handling obligation: the intermediary is holding the State's money and must pass it on at once.

The 30-day clock (Section 26) is a final-settlement deadline. It binds the taxpayer and it measures from the transfer of title (or accrual on a suspensive/credit sale). Its purpose is to settle the actual liability — the real gain at the real rate — after crediting whatever the withholding already collected.

The two are reconciled by the credit mechanism. The withholding is a payment on account; the Section 26 settlement is the true-up. If the withholding was too much, the taxpayer claims it back (Section 22J excess / Section 22I refund); if too little, the taxpayer pays the balance within 30 days. A practitioner who keeps these two clocks and their reconciliation clear will never mishandle a CGT payment.

Concept 2 — The withholding-to-final-tax reconciliation, step by step

Take an immovable property acquired after 22 February 2019 (so the 20%-of-gain regime and the 15%-of-price withholding both apply). The reconciliation is:

1. The depositary withholds 15% of the gross selling price and remits it within 3 working days (Part IIIA).
2. The seller computes the final CGT = 20% of the capital gain (gross price less Section 11 deductions and the inflation allowance).
3. The seller claims the withholding as a Section 22J credit against the final CGT.
4. If withholding > final CGT, the seller claims a Section 22I refund of the excess.
5. If withholding < final CGT, the seller pays the balance within the Section 26 30-day window.

Because 15% of the gross price is frequently larger than 20% of the (much smaller) gain, refunds are common — which is exactly why the CGT 1 demands the seller's bank details.

Concept 3 — Interest, penalty and additional tax are three different things

Late or wrong CGT payment can attract up to three distinct money consequences, and confusing them is a classic error:

• Interest (Section 26(3)) is compensatory — it compensates the State for being kept out of its money, runs at the ministerial SI rate (SI 211/2022) on the unpaid tax, and can be waived only by the Commissioner extending time in special circumstances. It is not a penalty and implies no fault.
• The Section 22H 15% penalty is a withholding-default penalty — it falls only on a depositary or agent who fails to withhold or remit, is fixed at 15% of the tax that should have been withheld, and is waivable where there was no intent to evade. It targets the intermediary's collection failure, not the taxpayer's underpayment.
• Additional tax (Section 23 → Income Tax Act Section 46) is a default/omission penalty on the taxpayer for failing to return or for understating, and can be a multiple of the tax depending on culpability.

A single botched transaction can, in principle, generate interest on the late final tax (Section 26(3)), a 15% penalty on the conveyancer who failed to remit (Section 22H), and additional tax on the seller who understated the gain (Section 46) — three separate liabilities on three separate bases.

Concept 4 — Recovery: the borrowed arsenal

If CGT goes unpaid, ZIMRA does not improvise. Section 26(4) and the cross-application sections hand it the Income Tax Act's full collection toolkit:

• Estimated/best-judgement assessment (Section 23 → ITA Section 45) — where no return is filed or the Commissioner is dissatisfied, he may assess the CGT on his own estimate, shifting the burden to the taxpayer to displace it.
• Additional and amended assessments (Section 23 → ITA Sections 47, 49, 50) — to capture omitted gains within the limitation period.
• The garnishee power (Section 24 → ITA Section 58) — the Commissioner may appoint any person who holds money for, or owes money to, the taxpayer (a bank, a tenant, a debtor) as the taxpayer's agent for payment of the tax, compelling that third party to pay ZIMRA from those funds.
• Representative-taxpayer liability (Section 24 → ITA Sections 53–56, 61) — executors, trustees, liquidators and the public officer of a company are personally answerable for the CGT of the persons or entities they represent.
• The clearance chokepoint (Section 30A) — the structural backstop: withhold registration until the tax is paid.
• Third-party reporting (Section 31) — the Deeds Registry, banks and others feed ZIMRA the disposal data that triggers all of the above.

The borrowed nature of these powers means a CGT recovery argument is always a two-Act argument: the CGT Act supplies the gateway, the Income Tax Act supplies the power.

Individuals — the homeowner and the refund

Scenario D-1: property withholding exceeds the final tax (refund). Mrs Moyo sells a Harare flat (acquired June 2020 for US$70,000; improvements US$10,000; inflation allowance US$7,000; selling costs US$3,000) for US$130,000. The conveyancer, as depositary, withholds 15% × US$130,000 = US$19,500 and remits it within 3 working days.

Mrs Moyo's final CGT (post-2019 asset, 20% of gain):

Gross capital amount: USD 130,000
Less acquisition cost (Section 11(2)(a)): (USD 70,000)
Less improvements (Section 11(2)(b)): (USD 10,000)
Less inflation allowance (Section 11(2)(c)):(USD 7,000)
Less selling costs (Section 11(2)(d)): (USD 3,000)
Capital gain: USD 40,000
Final CGT at 20%: USD 8,000

Reconciliation under Section 22J:

Withholding tax paid (provisional): USD 19,500
Less final CGT: (USD 8,000)
Section 22I refund due to Mrs Moyo: USD 11,500

She claims the US$11,500 refund on the CGT 1 (bank details mandatory). If ZIMRA does not refund within 60 days, Section 22I(2) entitles her to interest on it. No Section 26 balance is due because the withholding more than covered the final tax.

Scenario D-2: a sale with no intermediary (payee pays). Mr Chari sells unlisted shares privately for US$40,000, the agreement of sale dated 1 March. No depositary or agent handles the proceeds. Under Section 22E, Mr Chari himself must pay the withholding tax (5% × US$40,000 = US$2,000) to ZIMRA within 3 working days of receiving the money — and must still file the CGT 1 and settle the final CGT within the Section 26 window. A seller who assumes "no agent, no obligation" walks straight into a Section 22E default.

SMEs — late payment and interest

Scenario D-3: the cost of paying late. A Gweru trading company sells a warehouse, transfer registered 10 April, final CGT computed at US$24,000. The company, distracted, pays on 10 July — 91 days after transfer, i.e. 61 days late (the 30-day window expired 10 May). Interest runs under Section 26(3) at the ministerial SI rate (SI 211/2022) on the US$24,000 from the specified date until payment. Suppose the applicable annual rate is 10%:

Final CGT: USD 24,000
Days late (approx.): 61
Interest (24,000 × 10% × 61/365): USD ≈ 401
Total to settle: USD ≈ 24,401

The lesson: interest is mechanical and avoidable. Diarise the 30-day deadline from the transfer date.

Large corporates and the garnishee

Scenario D-4: recovery against a defaulting corporate. A property-holding company disposes of a building, the CGT assessed at US$200,000, and does not pay. ZIMRA, exercising the Section 24 → Income Tax Act Section 58 garnishee power, appoints the company's bank as the company's agent for payment of the tax, directing the bank to remit US$200,000 from the company's account to ZIMRA. Simultaneously the Section 30A chokepoint ensures that if any further property the company holds is sold, no transfer registers until CGT is settled, and the Section 61 public officer is personally answerable for the company's compliance. The corporate cannot outrun the borrowed Income Tax Act machinery.

Sabeta v Commissioner-General, ZIMRA 12-HH-079 (High Court). Annotated in the source Act directly against Section 22B, this is the governing authority on the clearance-certificate dimension of payment: ZIMRA is "not permitted to refuse to assess and issue a CGT certificate once tax is paid." The case fixes the reciprocal logic of the Section 30A chokepoint — the certificate is ZIMRA's confirmation that the tax has been received, and once the taxpayer has paid, issuing the certificate is a duty, not a discretion. For payment practice it means a seller who has correctly computed and paid is entitled to clearance and can compel it if ZIMRA stalls, so that the transfer can register.

Law Society of Zimbabwe and Mollat P.M. v Minister of Finance (AG intervening) 99-SC-092 (Supreme Court). Repeatedly annotated across Sections 22C, 22D, 22E, 22I and 22K of the source Act, this is the constitutional touchstone of the Part IIIA withholding regime. It tested the validity of the collect-at-source provisions (and the period during which an earlier version of the charge was found ultra vires the Constitution between 1 January and 7 July 1999). Its enduring significance for payment is that the withholding machinery, the refund right in Section 22I, and the depositary/agent obligations must operate within constitutional limits — the State may collect at source, but the taxpayer's right to a refund of over-collected tax (Section 22I) is part of what makes the scheme lawful.

Sibanda G v Masanga L 24-SC-090 (Supreme Court). Annotated at Section 14, this case shows the payment chokepoint from the other side: ZIMRA declined a clearance certificate where the declared/devalued price was unsatisfactory, with the result that transfer could not pass. Read with Sabeta, it frames the certificate as a two-edged instrument — ZIMRA must issue it once tax is genuinely paid (Sabeta), but may withhold it where the consideration (and therefore the tax) is in doubt (Sibanda v Masanga).

On the recovery side, the powers are imported from the Income Tax Act, and the relevant authorities (on estimated assessment, additional tax and the garnishee power) are developed in the income-tax jurisprudence surveyed in Provisional Tax, QPDs and PAYE Administration and Enforcement and Recovery of CGT by ZIMRA. Because the source Act does not annotate a CGT-specific recovery judgment beyond the clearance cases above, this lesson states the recovery powers as statutory provisions rather than attaching them to named CGT cases.

Pitfall 1 — treating the 15% withholding as the final tax. The Part IIIA withholding on immovable property is provisional. Because 15% of the gross price usually exceeds 20% of the (smaller) gain, sellers who never compute the final CGT and claim the Section 22J credit / Section 22I refund systematically overpay. Always compute the final liability and reconcile.

Pitfall 2 — confusing the two clocks. The 3-working-day Part IIIA remittance (intermediary) and the 30-day Section 26 settlement (taxpayer) are different deadlines on different parties. A conveyancer who thinks they have 30 days to remit the withholding breaches Section 22C; a seller who thinks the 3-day clock is theirs misreads the Act.

Pitfall 3 — the "no agent, no obligation" trap. Where no depositary or agent handles the proceeds (a private share sale, a direct property deal), Section 22E puts the withholding obligation on the seller personally, due within 3 working days. Assuming the obligation evaporates without an intermediary is a default.

Pitfall 4 — paying in the wrong currency. Finance Act Section 39A requires payment in the currency of the consideration. Settling a USD-sale CGT in ZiG (or vice versa) leaves a shortfall that attracts Section 26(3) interest. Match the tax currency to the sale currency and split a mixed-currency deal.

Pitfall 5 — conflating interest, the 22H penalty and additional tax. These are three different liabilities: interest (Section 26(3)) is compensatory and falls on the taxpayer; the 15% penalty (Section 22H) falls on a defaulting depositary or agent; additional tax (Section 23 → ITA Section 46) is a default/omission penalty on the taxpayer. Treating them as interchangeable produces wrong advice on who owes what and what can be waived.

Pitfall 6 — missing the Section 22I refund deadlines. A refund of over-withheld tax must be claimed within 6 years; and ZIMRA's obligation to pay interest on a delayed refund only bites where the refund is not made within 60 days and the delay was ZIMRA's fault, not a defective return. A taxpayer who files a sloppy return forfeits the refund interest.

Pitfall 7 — ignoring the depositary registration and monthly-return duties. Conveyancers, estate agents and brokers who act as depositaries must register within 30 days (Section 22FA) and file monthly returns with payment (Section 22G). Firms that withhold but never register or never file are exposed to the Section 22FA offence and the Section 22H penalty.

Pitfall 8 — underestimating the garnishee and chokepoint. A corporate that simply declines to pay assessed CGT faces the Section 24 → Income Tax Act Section 58 garnishee (ZIMRA directing the bank to pay) and the Section 30A freeze on any future transfer. There is no practical way to hold property in Zimbabwe and evade CGT on its disposal; the recovery architecture is closed.

Work through the questions one at a time. Choose an answer and it is graded immediately, with an explanation and the provision it comes from. Your progress is saved, so you can stop and resume.

• Two payment clocks run on every CGT disposal. The 3-working-day Part IIIA remittance (depositary → agent → payee, Sections 22C/22D/22E) is a collection-at-source duty on the intermediary; the 30-day Section 26 settlement is the taxpayer's final-payment duty, measured from transfer of title (or accrual on a Section 18/19 suspensive or credit sale).
• Withholding is provisional and creditable. The 15% (property), 1% final (listed shares), or 5% (other shares) withheld under Finance Act Section 39 is credited against the final CGT under Section 22J and refunded under Section 22I (claim within 6 years; ZIMRA pays interest if it fails to refund within 60 days). Because 15% of price often exceeds 20% of gain, refunds are common — always reconcile.
• The final rates the payment settles are 5% of gross (pre-22 Feb 2019) or 20% of gain (on/after), in the currency of the consideration (Finance Act Sections 38 and 39A).
• Three money consequences are distinct. Interest (Section 26(3)) is compensatory on the taxpayer; the 15% penalty (Section 22H) falls on a defaulting depositary/agent; additional tax (Section 23 → ITA Section 46) penalises the taxpayer's omission. They are cumulative and rest on different bases.
• Recovery is borrowed from the Income Tax Act. Section 26(4) gives the Commissioner the Income Tax Act's collection powers; Section 23 imports estimated assessment (ITA Section 45), additional tax (Section 46) and additional assessment (Section 47); Section 24 imports the garnishee power (ITA Section 58) and representative-taxpayer/public-officer liability (Sections 53–56, 61).
• The Section 30A clearance certificate is the structural backstop. No property or share transfer registers without it. ZIMRA must issue it once the tax is paid (Sabeta 12-HH-079), but may withhold it where the price and tax are in doubt (Sibanda v Masanga 24-SC-090).
• The Part IIIA scheme is constitutionally bounded. Law Society of Zimbabwe & Mollat 99-SC-092 confirms the withholding-at-source machinery and the refund right operate within constitutional limits.
• Intermediaries carry real duties. Depositaries must register within 30 days (Section 22FA) and file monthly returns with payment (Section 22G); failure exposes them to the Section 22FA offence and the Section 22H penalty.
• There is no practical escape from CGT on a Zimbabwean disposal. The 30-day deadline, the 3-day withholding, the garnishee power, the clearance chokepoint and the Section 31 reporting net together form a closed recovery system.

Table 1 — The two payment clocks compared

Table 2 — Interest vs penalty vs additional tax

Table 3 — Recovery powers and their two-Act gateways

Diagram 1 — Payment and recovery flow

flowchart TD
 A[Sale of specified asset] --> B{Intermediary handles proceeds?}
 B -->|Depositary| C[Withhold; remit by 3rd working day Section 22C]
 B -->|Agent only| D[Agent withholds; remit by 3rd working day Section 22D]
 B -->|Neither| E[Payee pays withholding by 3rd working day Section 22E]
 C --> F[Compute final CGT: 5% gross or 20% gain]
 D --> F
 E --> F
 F --> G[Credit withholding against final CGT Section 22J]
 G --> H{Withholding vs final CGT}
 H -->|Withheld more| I[Claim Section 22I refund within 6 years]
 H -->|Withheld less| J[Pay balance within 30 days Section 26]
 J --> K{Paid on time?}
 K -->|Yes| L[ZIMRA issues Section 30A certificate - Sabeta]
 K -->|No| M[Interest Section 26 3 plus recovery]
 M --> N[Estimated assessment Section 23 to ITA Section 45]
 M --> O[Garnishee Section 24 to ITA Section 58]
 M --> P[Chokepoint freezes transfer Section 30A]
 I --> L
 L --> Q[Registrar registers transfer; deal completes]

Statutes & sections

Capital Gains Tax Act [Chapter 23:01] (as at 27 May 2025) - Section 18 / Section 19 — suspensive sales of immovable property / credit sales where ownership passes; fix the accrual that starts the Section 26(1)(a) clock. - Section 22B — charges the capital gains withholding tax. - Section 22C — depositaries withhold and remit by the 3rd working day; certificate to payee; several liability; clearance-certificate exemption; instalment rule. - Section 22D — agents withhold what depositaries did not, by the 3rd working day; trustee deemed agent (powers under ITA Section 58). - Section 22E — payee pays withholding neither depositary nor agent withheld, by the 3rd working day. - Section 22F — withholding exemptions (Section 10 exempt amounts; registered unit trusts). - Section 22FA — registration of depositaries within 30 days; offence for failure. - Section 22G — depositaries' monthly returns by month-end, accompanied by the tax. - Section 22H — personal liability of depositary/agent for unwithheld tax plus 15%; 15% waivable absent intent to evade. - Section 22I — refund of over-withheld tax (claim within 6 years); ZIMRA interest if refund delayed beyond 60 days through its fault. - Section 22J — withholding tax credited against CGT; excess refunded. - Section 22K / Section 22L — Part IIIA not applicable pre-1.1.1999; suspension re marketable securities (lifted 17 Oct 2005). - Section 23 — applies ITA Sections 37–52, Part VIIIA and Section 97B (returns, estimated assessment Section 45, additional tax Section 46, additional assessment Section 47, recording of assessments Section 51, interest Section 97B). - Section 24 — applies ITA Sections 53–61 (representative taxpayers; garnishee/agent-appointment Section 58; public officer Section 61). - Section 26 — day and place for payment: due within 30 days of transfer (or accrual on Section 18/19 sales); Section 26(2) place of payment; Section 26(3) interest at ministerial SI rate, extendable without interest in special circumstances; Section 26(4) full ITA collection powers. - Section 30A — no registration of transfer without a ZIMRA certificate that CGT is paid. - Section 31 — third-party reporting by Registrar of Deeds, financial institutions and others.

Finance Act [Chapter 23:04] (as at 27 May 2025) - Section 38 — CGT rates: 5% of gross capital amount (pre-22 Feb 2019); 20% of capital gain (on/after). - Section 39 — withholding rates: 1% final on listed securities (reduced from 2% by Finance Act 7/2024 w.e.f. 28 Dec 2024); 15% provisional on immovable property acquired after 22 Feb 2019; 5% on other marketable securities. - Section 39A — payment of CGT in the currency in which the gain accrued.

Income Tax Act [Chapter 23:06] (cross-applied to CGT) - Sections 37–52, Part VIIIA, Section 97B — returns and assessments (via CGT Act Section 23): Section 45 estimated assessment, Section 46 additional tax, Section 47 additional assessment, Section 97B interest. - Sections 53–61 — representative taxpayers and recovery (via CGT Act Section 24): Section 58 garnishee/agent appointment; Section 61 public officer.

Case law

• Sabeta v Commissioner-General, ZIMRA 12-HH-079 (High Court) — ZIMRA must assess and issue the CGT clearance certificate once the tax is paid; the Section 30A power verifies payment, it does not arbitrarily withhold certification.
• Law Society of Zimbabwe and Mollat P.M. v Minister of Finance (AG intervening) 99-SC-092 (Supreme Court) — constitutional limits of the Part IIIA withholding-at-source regime and the Section 22I refund right; an earlier version of the charge was ultra vires the Constitution between 1 January and 7 July 1999.
• Sibanda G v Masanga L 24-SC-090 (Supreme Court) — ZIMRA legitimately declined a clearance certificate where the declared/devalued price (and hence the tax) was in doubt, preventing transfer; the chokepoint read alongside Sabeta.

ZIMRA guidance

• Comprehensive Guide to Form CGT 1 — ZIMRA External Guide — remittance of CGT, withholding reconciliation, and refund banking details on the Self-Service Portal.
• Comprehensive Guide to the Special CGT Return — ZIMRA External Guide — the special-return procedure.
• Capital Gains Tax (Rate of Interest) Notices — SI 281/2019; SI 54/2021 (foreign-currency interest backdated to 1 January 2020); SI 211/2022 (w.e.f. 1 December 2022) — the ministerial interest rate under Section 26(3) and Section 22I(2).