This lesson is the workbench of the Capital Gains Tax course. Every prior CGT lesson built a component of the machine — the legal framework, the special rules, exemptions, deductions, rates, withholding, payment and recovery, enforcement, compliance and planning. Here we assemble the whole machine and run real specified assets through it, from the moment a seller signs a deed of sale to the moment ZIMRA issues the capital gains tax clearance certificate that lets the Deeds Registry transfer title. The lesson is deliberately computation-heavy: it teaches by doing, with full, line-by-line worked computations in USD and ZiG for individuals, SMEs and large corporates.

The governing instruments are the Capital Gains Tax Act [Chapter 23:01] (the charge in Section 6, the calculation route in Section 7, the core definitions in Section 8, exemptions in Section 10, the deduction code in Section 11, suspensive and credit sales in Sections 18 and 19, principal private residence and business-property rollovers in Sections 21 and 22, and the no-certificate-no-transfer chokepoint in Section 30A) read together with the Finance Act [Chapter 23:04], which fixes the rates in Section 38, the withholding rates in Section 39, and the currency-of-payment and restricted-deduction rules in Section 39A. The practical administrative layer comes from ZIMRA's Comprehensive Guide to Form CGT 1 and the Special CGT Return guide.

The single most important practical rule a candidate must internalise is the 22 February 2019 date split set by Section 38 of the Finance Act. A specified asset acquired before 22 February 2019 is taxed at 5% of the gross capital amount — the whole selling price, with no deductions at all. A specified asset acquired on or after 22 February 2019 is taxed at 20% of the capital gain — selling price less the Section 11 deductions. The two regimes are arithmetically and conceptually different: one taxes turnover, the other taxes profit. Identifying the acquisition date correctly is therefore the first and most consequential step in every CGT computation.

The second practical rule that the older textbooks miss is the currency-driven deduction restriction in Section 39A(9a). Where the gain accrues in foreign currency (USD) — which is now the overwhelming majority of transactions — the Section 11(2)(c) Consumer Price Index inflation allowance does not apply. It is replaced by a flat 2½% per year (or part-year) of assessment of the purchase price (and 2½% per year of the cost of improvements), and only the deductions in Section 11(2)(a), (b), (d), (e), (f) and (g) are available. The CPI formula A/B × C survives only for the diminishing pool of Zimbabwean-currency (ZiG) gains. Using the CPI formula on a USD computation, or the 2½% allowance on a ZiG computation, is a classic examinable error.

The third practical rule is the provisional-versus-final mechanics of withholding. The depositary — the conveyancer, estate agent, building society, the Sheriff, or the stockbroker — withholds capital gains withholding tax under Part IIIA at the Section 39 rates and remits it (established in earlier lessons as due by the third working day after the month of withholding). For listed marketable securities the 1% withheld is the final tax — no CGT 1 is filed and no further computation is done. For everything else the withholding is merely provisional: the seller files the CGT 1, computes the final tax under Section 38, credits the provisional withholding, and either tops up the shortfall or claims a refund of the excess. A 15% provisional withholding on an immovable-property sale routinely produces a refund, because 15% of the gross price usually exceeds 20% of the much smaller gain.

Across the lesson you will work eleven complete scenarios: an investor flipping a pre-2019 house (5% of gross), a family upgrading a post-2019 home with a partial PPR rollover (A/B × C under Section 21), an over-55 seller who walks away tax-free under Section 10(l), an SME selling commercial premises with capital allowances and recoupment crossing into the Income Tax Act, a farmer on a suspensive instalment sale spreading the gain under Section 18, a deceased estate where the executor's realisation is exempt under Section 10(b), a corporate group reorganisation deferring the gain under Section 15, listed and unlisted share disposals, a non-resident sale engaging deemed source, and a donation taxed at fair market value under Section 8(2)(b). By the end you should be able to take any Zimbabwean specified-asset disposal, classify it, compute it, reconcile the withholding, file it and clear it — which is exactly what ZIMRA, the Deeds Registry, and the examiner will ask you to do.

Tax law is learned twice. The first time, you learn the rules — what a specified asset is, what the rate is, which deductions are allowed. The second time, which is harder and which this lesson exists to deliver, you learn to operate the rules under the messy conditions of a real transaction: a buyer who pays in instalments, a property that was a home for part of its life and a rental for the rest, a seller who has died, a price quoted partly in USD and partly in ZiG, a conveyancer who has already withheld more tax than is ultimately due. The gap between knowing the rate and producing a correct, defensible CGT 1 that ZIMRA will accept is precisely the gap that examinations and clients test.

Capital gains tax in Zimbabwe is a transaction tax on the disposal of specified assets. As established in the Legal Framework lesson, the charge in Section 6 of the Capital Gains Tax Act [Chapter 23:01] falls on the capital gains received by or accrued to or in favour of any person during a year of assessment, from a source within Zimbabwe, from the sale of a specified asset on or after 1 August 1981. As established in the Introduction and Specified Assets lessons, "specified asset" means, in essence, immovable property situated in Zimbabwe and marketable securities of a Zimbabwean entity — and nothing else. The disposal of a car, a foreign share, a patent, or a herd of cattle is not a CGT event at all. The first practical instinct, therefore, is always to ask: is this even a specified asset? If it is not, the CGT 1 is not required and the entire analysis stops.

Practical CGT matters enormously in Zimbabwe because property and shares are the principal stores of household and corporate wealth, because the tax is collected at a registration chokepoint that can freeze a transaction (no clearance certificate, no transfer of title — Section 30A), and because the withholding regime pulls third parties — conveyancers, agents, brokers, building societies — into the tax net as depositaries with personal liability for failures. A practitioner who cannot run the computation cannot advise a seller on net proceeds, cannot tell a buyer when transfer will clear, and cannot reconcile the conveyancer's withholding to the final tax to recover an over-withheld refund. ZIMRA audit interest is high precisely here: at the date of acquisition (which fixes the rate regime), the cost base (which the seller is tempted to inflate), the PPR and over-55 exemptions (which are over-claimed), and the currency of the consideration (which fixes both the rate currency and the deduction set).

This lesson assumes you have absorbed the earlier CGT lessons and points back to them rather than re-teaching their content. Where a rule was established earlier — the 5%/20% split, the deduction code, the rollover elections, the withholding timing — it is applied here, not re-derived. The new skill being taught is synthesis under transaction conditions.

A practical computation touches a small, fixed set of provisions. Knowing exactly which provision does which job in the computation is what separates a confident practitioner from a guesser.

The charge and the calculation route

Section 6 of the Capital Gains Tax Act imposes the tax on capital gains. Section 7 directs that the tax "shall be calculated in accordance with the Finance Act [Chapter 23:04] by reference to (a) the capital gains of the person in the year of assessment; and (b) the rate of capital gains tax fixed from time to time in that Act." Section 7 is the hinge: the Capital Gains Tax Act defines the base, and the Finance Act sets the rate. You always need both Acts open.

The three building-block definitions — Section 8

Section 8(1) gives the three figures every computation moves through, in order:

• "Gross capital amount" — Section 8(1)(a) — "the total amount received by or accrued to or in favour of a person … from a source within Zimbabwe from the sale on or after the 1st August, 1981, of specified assets," excluding amounts proved to be gross income under Section 8 of the Income Tax Act, and including any amount allowed to be deducted under Section 11(2) which has been recovered or recouped. In plain terms: the selling price (or deemed selling price).
• "Capital amount" — Section 8(1)(b) — the gross capital amount less any amounts exempt from CGT under the Act. In plain terms: selling price minus exemptions.
• "Capital gain" — Section 8(1)(c) — the capital amount less all the amounts allowed to be deducted under the Act. In plain terms: the taxable profit.

The funnel is therefore Gross capital amount → (less exemptions) → Capital amount → (less Section 11 deductions) → Capital gain. The 5% rate (pre-2019 assets) bites at the gross capital amount / capital amount stage; the 20% rate (post-2019 assets) bites at the capital gain stage. This is the spine of every worked example below.

Deemed disposals and deemed prices — Section 8(2)

Section 8(2) converts non-sale events into taxable disposals, which is essential to the donation, expropriation and deceased-estate scenarios:

• 8(2)(b) — a disposal otherwise than by sale is deemed a sale at the asset's fair market price at the date of disposal (subject to the housing-trust donation proviso). This is the provision behind taxing donations of property.
• 8(2)(c) — an expropriated asset is deemed sold for the compensation paid (with a Global Compensation Deed carve-out, inserted by Finance Act 13/2023 w.e.f. 1 January 2024).
• 8(2)(d) — an asset sold in execution of a court order is taxed in the hands of the person on whose behalf it was sold.
• 8(2)(e) — maturity or redemption of a specified asset is a deemed sale.
• 8(2)(f), (g), (h) — cession of rights under a deed of sale, transfer of rights in a residential/commercial/industrial stand, and relinquishment of a condominium membership interest are each deemed sales for the whole amount received (paras (g) and (h) inserted by Act 1/2014).

The exemptions you tick — Section 10

Section 10 lists the exemptions. The ones that recur in practice are 10(b) (executor's realisation/distribution of a deceased-estate asset), 10(l) (sale of a principal private residence by a person aged 55 or over), 10(m) (the first US$1,800 of marketable securities sold by a person aged 55 or over), and 10(n) (a marketable security that has suffered the Section 39(c) withholding). Institutional exemptions in 10(a), (c)–(k) cover Third-Schedule bodies, State-owned companies, local authorities, statutory corporations, licensed investors, industrial-park developers and the like.

The deduction code — Section 11

Section 11(2) is the menu of deductions for the capital gain computation (it is irrelevant to a 5% pre-2019 gross computation, which allows nothing):

• (a) expenditure on the acquisition or construction of the asset (with deemed-cost rules: inheritance takes the deceased-estate valuation; assets acquired otherwise than by purchase/inheritance before 1 August 1981 take fair market value, after 1 August 1981 take the amount brought into someone's gross capital amount or gross income).
• (b) expenditure on additions, alterations or improvements (not repairs).
• (c) the inflation allowance, computed by the CPI formula A/B × C (A = CPI at disposal; B = CPI in the month of purchase or improvement; C = the purchase price or revalued amount including improvements). Repealed and substituted by Finance Act 7/2021 w.e.f. 31 December 2021. This paragraph is displaced by Section 39A(9a) for foreign-currency gains — see below.
• (d) expenditure directly incurred for or in connection with the sale (agent's commission, conveyancing, advertising).
• (e) bad debts previously included in the capital amount.
• (f) and (g) taxed High Court / Special Court and Supreme Court costs of a successful appeal.
• (h) a de-minimis: where total capital gains for the year are US$50 or less, an amount equal to that total (effectively wiping out trivial gains). Note: Section 39A(9a) does not list (c) or (h) among the deductions available for foreign-currency gains.

Section 11(3) allows the prior year's assessed capital loss to be carried forward, with anti-loss-trafficking and insolvency provisos. Section 11(4) prevents double-deduction and forces an election where an amount qualifies under more than one provision. Section 11(5) deems a lessor charged to income tax under the gross-income letting paragraph to have incurred Section 11(2)(a)/(b) expenditure equal to that inclusion.

The Finance Act rate engine — Sections 38, 39, 39A

Section 38 of the Finance Act fixes the final rates:

• 38(a) — specified asset acquired before 22 February 2019: 5% (US$0.05 or $0.05 per dollar) of the gross capital amount.
• 38(b) — specified asset acquired on or after 22 February 2019: 20% (US$0.20 or $0.20 per dollar) of the capital gain.

Section 39 fixes the withholding (Part IIIA) rates:

• 39(a) — listed marketable security: 1% of the sale price, and this is the final tax (reduced from 2% by Finance Act 7/2024 w.e.f. 28 December 2024).
• 39(b) — immovable property acquired after 22 February 2019: 15% of the sale price withheld provisionally, subject to final assessment at 20% of the gain.
• 39(d) — other (unlisted) marketable securities: 5% of the sale price, provisional.

Section 39A governs currency and the foreign-currency deduction restriction:

• 39A(1)–(2) — CGT is paid in the currency of the consideration; where consideration is part-foreign part-local, the tax on each part is computed and paid separately in the matching currency.
• 39A(9)(a)/(b) — these are the "case" labels used throughout Section 38/39: (a) is the Zimbabwean-currency case, (b) is the foreign-currency case.
• 39A(9a) — for a foreign-currency gain, "no amounts shall be deducted … that are allowed to be deducted in terms of Section 11 … other than (a) the amount referred to in Section 11(2)(a), (b), (d), (e), (f) and (g); and (b) … an amount of 2½% of the purchase price for each year or part-year of assessment from acquisition to sale, and 2½% of the cost of improvements for each year or part-year from the improvement to the sale," with a Minister-prescribed formula to convert any ZWL-incurred expenditure to USD. Inserted by Finance Act 7/2021, backdated to 22 February 2019.

The practical consequence cannot be overstated: for the USD transactions that dominate the market, the inflation allowance is the flat 2½%-per-year figure, the CPI A/B × C formula is switched off, and the US$50 de-minimis and the CPI allowance are simply not on the menu. The CPI formula lives on only for ZiG gains.

Suspensive and credit sales — Sections 18 and 19

Section 18 deals with immovable property sold under suspensive conditions (ownership passes only on or after receipt of all or part of the price): the whole amount is deemed to accrue on the date the agreement is entered into, but the Commissioner deducts a spreading allowance (variables A = portion not receivable at year-end; B = capital amount deemed accrued; C = aggregate of the Section 11(2)(a)–(d) deductions; D = the amount deemed accrued), which is added back to the capital amount in the following year. Section 19 does the equivalent for credit (instalment) sales where ownership passes on delivery. These provisions stop a seller from being taxed in full on money not yet received.

Rollovers — Sections 15, 16, 17, 21, 22

As established in the Special Rules and Corporate Restructuring lessons, the rollover elections defer (not exempt) a gain by deeming the selling price equal to the transferor's cost: Section 15 (transfers between companies under the same control), Section 16 (transfers of a PPR between spouses), Section 17 (individual to a company under his control), Section 21 (reinvestment of PPR proceeds into a replacement PPR/residential stand, taxing only the unreinvested proportion by the formula A/B × C), and Section 22 (substitution of business property). The rolled-over gain reduces the base cost of the replacement asset (Section 21(3)).

The chokepoint and the return — Sections 26, 30A

Section 26 sets payment within 30 days of the relevant transfer/accrual. Section 30A forbids the Registrar of Deeds (and the relevant share registrars) from registering transfer until ZIMRA's paid-up clearance certificate is produced. The return is the Form CGT 1 (immovable property and marketable securities) or the Special CGT Return.

Every practical CGT problem, however it is dressed up, can be solved by the same eight-step algorithm. Master the algorithm and the scenarios become variations on a theme.

Step 1 — Is it a specified asset?

Ask whether the thing disposed of is immovable property situated in Zimbabwe or a marketable security of a Zimbabwean entity. If neither, stop — there is no CGT. (A foreign property, a motor vehicle, a debt, goodwill standing alone, or movable plant are outside CGT.) This is the gate.

Step 2 — Is there a disposal, and on what date?

Identify the disposal event and its date. A normal sale disposes on transfer/registration for immovable property and on the date of the sale agreement for unlisted securities (ZIMRA CGT 1 guide). A non-sale event may still be a deemed disposal under Section 8(2): donation (fair market value), expropriation (compensation), cession of deed-of-sale rights, redemption/maturity, court-execution sale. The date of disposal fixes the year of assessment and the currency.

Step 3 — When was it acquired? (the 22 February 2019 split)

This is the rate-determining step. Acquired before 22 February 2019 → 5% of gross capital amount, no deductions. Acquired on or after 22 February 2019 → 20% of capital gain, deductions allowed. Use the date of registration of transfer to the seller, not the date of the original agreement (CGT 1 guide). Inherited assets take the date and value fixed in the deceased estate.

Step 4 — In what currency did the gain accrue?

If the consideration is foreign currency (USD), the gain is a "39A(9)(b)" case: tax is paid in USD and the Section 39A(9a) restricted deduction set applies (acquisition, improvements, selling costs, bad debts, taxed appeal costs, plus 2½%/year inflation allowance — no CPI, no US$50). If the consideration is Zimbabwean currency (ZiG), it is a "39A(9)(a)" case: tax is paid in ZiG and the full Section 11 menu including the CPI A/B × C inflation allowance applies. Split mixed-currency deals and compute each part separately (Section 39A(2)).

Step 5 — Compute the gross capital amount, then the capital amount

Take the selling price (or deemed price). For a deemed disposal, use fair market value (Section 8(2)(b)). Strip out any portion proved to be gross income under the Income Tax Act (it is taxed there, not here). Deduct any exemptions under Section 10 to reach the capital amount. If a full exemption applies (over-55 PPR under 10(l); executor's realisation under 10(b); full PPR reinvestment under Section 21(2)(a)), the capital amount/taxable gain is nil — but the CGT 1 is still filed for the record.

Step 6 — Deduct under Section 11 (post-2019 only) to reach the capital gain

For a post-2019 asset, subtract the available deductions: acquisition cost (a), improvements (b), selling costs (d), bad debts (e), taxed appeal costs (f)/(g), and the inflation allowance — CPI A/B × C if ZiG, or 2½%/year of cost and of improvements if USD. Then subtract any prior-year assessed capital loss (Section 11(3)). The result is the capital gain. For a pre-2019 asset, skip this step entirely — the 5% applies to the gross.

Step 7 — Apply the rate (Section 38) to get the final tax

Pre-2019: 5% × gross capital amount. Post-2019: 20% × capital gain. Apply the rate in the currency of the consideration.

Step 8 — Reconcile the withholding, then file and clear

Identify what the depositary withheld under Section 39 (15% of price on immovable property; 5% of price on unlisted securities; 1% final on listed securities). For listed securities, stop — the 1% is final. Otherwise, credit the provisional withholding (cross-referenced as Section 22J in the Payment lesson) against the Section 38 final tax: a shortfall is topped up; an excess is refunded (claimable within six years; ZIMRA pays interest if it delays a properly due refund beyond 60 days through its own fault). File the CGT 1 within 30 days (Section 26) and obtain the Section 30A clearance certificate so the Registrar can transfer title.

flowchart TD
 A[Disposal of an asset] --> B{Specified asset?
Zim immovable or
Zim marketable security}
 B -->|No| Z[No CGT - stop]
 B -->|Yes| C{Acquired before
22 Feb 2019?}
 C -->|Yes| D[5% of GROSS capital amount
no deductions]
 C -->|No| E{Consideration currency?}
 E -->|USD foreign| F[Section 39A 9a set:
cost, improvements, selling,
bad debts + 2.5%/yr
NO CPI, NO US$50]
 E -->|ZiG local| G[Full Section 11 menu
incl CPI A/B x C]
 F --> H[Capital gain]
 G --> H[Capital gain]
 H --> I[20% of capital gain]
 D --> J[Credit Section 39 withholding]
 I --> J
 J --> K{Withholding vs final}
 K -->|Listed security 1%| L[1% is FINAL - no CGT 1]
 K -->|Excess withheld| M[Refund to seller]
 K -->|Shortfall| N[Top-up payment]
 M --> O[File CGT 1, get Section 30A certificate]
 N --> O
 L --> P[Done]
 O --> P

The scenarios below run the algorithm end to end. Figures are illustrative but the method and the law are grounded in the sources.

D.1 Individual — pre-22 Feb 2019 investment property sold in USD (5% of gross)

Facts. Mrs. Chimuka bought a rental house in Avondale, Harare, on 12 March 2010 for USD 80,000. She sells it on 15 January 2026 for USD 240,000. It is not her PPR; she is 52, so the over-55 exemption is unavailable.

Step 1–4. Specified asset (Zimbabwean immovable property); real sale on 15 January 2026; acquired before 22 February 2019 → 5% of gross; consideration in USD → tax in USD.

Step 5–7 (computation). Because the asset is pre-2019, no deductions apply — the 5% bites on the gross.

Step 8 (reconcile). The conveyancer, as depositary, withholds 15% of USD 240,000 = USD 36,000 as provisional withholding. The CGT 1 reconciles: final tax USD 12,000, provisional withholding USD 36,000, refund due USD 24,000, paid into Mrs. Chimuka's nominated account once ZIMRA confirms. Teaching point: on a long-held, pre-2019 asset the 15% provisional withholding hugely over-collects against a 5% final tax, so the refund claim is the practitioner's job — never let the client assume the 15% was the tax.

D.2 Individual — post-22 Feb 2019 home, partial PPR rollover (Section 21, A/B × C)

Facts. Mr. and Mrs. Banda bought their family home on 1 April 2020 for USD 90,000, spent USD 20,000 on a cottage (improvement) on 1 May 2023, and sell on 1 February 2026 for USD 260,000, paying USD 9,000 in agent and conveyancing fees. They reinvest USD 200,000 in a replacement PPR within the next year of assessment and elect the Section 21 rollover. Mr. Banda is 47 (no over-55 exemption).

Compute the capital gain first (USD case → Section 39A(9a) set).

Inflation allowance at 2½% per year or part-year: - On purchase price: years of assessment touched from 2020 to 2026 = 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 = 7 → 2.5% × 7 = 17.5% × USD 90,000 = USD 15,750. - On improvement: years touched from 2023 to 2026 = 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 = 4 → 2.5% × 4 = 10% × USD 20,000 = USD 2,000.

Apply the Section 21 partial rollover. The reinvested portion is exempt; only the unreinvested proportion is taxed, by the formula (A/B) × C: - A = consideration not reinvested = 260,000 − 200,000 = USD 60,000. - B = total consideration = USD 260,000. - C = the capital gain = USD 123,250. - Taxable gain = (60,000 / 260,000) × 123,250 = USD 28,442 (rounded).

The exempt (rolled-over) portion = 123,250 − 28,442 = USD 94,808 reduces the Section 11(2)(a) base cost of the new PPR (Section 21(3)), so the deferred gain is captured on a later non-qualifying sale. The election must be made no later than the date the CGT 1 is submitted (Section 21(2a)).

D.3 Individual — over-55 PPR (full exemption, Section 10(l))

Facts. Mr. Ncube, aged 61, sells the home he has lived in for 20 years on 3 February 2026 for USD 180,000. He bought it in 2004 for USD 30,000.

Analysis. The sale of a principal private residence by a person aged 55 or over is exempt under Section 10(l). The capital amount, and therefore the gain, is nil.

A CGT 1 is still filed (ticking the over-55 PPR exemption, with ID proving age) so the Registrar can issue the Section 30A clearance and transfer can proceed. Pitfall: the exemption attaches only to the PPR — if Mr. Ncube also sold a rental flat, that flat is taxed normally.

D.4 SME — commercial premises with capital allowances and recoupment (cross-over to income tax)

Facts. Borrowdale Spares (Pvt) Ltd, an SME, bought commercial premises on 1 July 2019 for USD 150,000, claimed USD 40,000 of income-tax capital allowances (SIA/wear-and-tear) over the years (tax written-down value now USD 110,000), and sells on 1 February 2026 for USD 230,000, with USD 8,000 selling costs and USD 12,000 of improvements made on 1 March 2021.

The income-tax overlap first. Because capital allowances were claimed, the disposal triggers a recoupment under the Income Tax Act (gross income paragraph (j)): the proceeds attributable to the building, up to the USD 40,000 of allowances previously granted, are recouped into income tax, not CGT. The CGT computation must exclude the recouped portion so the same value is not taxed twice. The CGT 1 has dedicated lines to disclose the gross capital allowance and recoupment for exactly this reason.

CGT computation (USD, post-2019). Treat the cost for CGT as the original USD 150,000 (Section 11(2)(a)); the recoupment is dealt with in the income-tax return. The gain attributable to genuine appreciation is taxed at 20%.

Inflation allowance (2½%/yr): on cost 2019→2026 = 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 = 8 years → 20% × 150,000 = USD 30,000; on improvement 2021→2026 = 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 = 6 years → 15% × 12,000 = USD 1,800.

Here the deductions and inflation allowance exceed the net selling price, producing an assessed capital loss of USD 11,800 carried forward under Section 11(3) to offset future capital gains. CGT payable = nil, but the recoupment is taxed in the income-tax computation at the company rate (25% for the 2025 year of assessment, per the Corporate Income Tax lesson). Teaching point: CGT and income tax are separate heads — a CGT loss does not shelter the income-tax recoupment, and conflating the two is a frequent SME error.

D.5 SME / farmer — suspensive instalment sale spreading the gain (Section 18)

Facts. A seller disposes of a commercial stand on 1 December 2025 for USD 300,000 under a suspensive agreement: ownership passes only when the final instalment is paid. By 31 December 2025 (year-end), only USD 120,000 has been received; USD 180,000 remains not yet receivable. Section 11(2)(a)–(d) deductions total USD 100,000, so the capital gain on the whole deal is USD 200,000.

Analysis. Under Section 18(1), the whole USD 300,000 is deemed to accrue on the date of the agreement (1 December 2025). But the Commissioner deducts a spreading allowance so the seller is not taxed in 2025 on the USD 180,000 not yet receivable. Using the Section 18 variables — A = 180,000 (not receivable at year-end); B = capital amount deemed accrued; C = the Section 11(2)(a)–(d) deductions = 100,000; D = the amount deemed accrued = 300,000 — the allowance defers the proportion of the gain matching the unreceived price. On the principle that the deferred gain tracks the unreceived fraction:

• Unreceived fraction = A/D = 180,000 / 300,000 = 60%.
• Allowance (gain deferred to 2026) ≈ 60% × capital gain (USD 200,000) = USD 120,000.
• Gain taxed in 2025 ≈ USD 200,000 − 120,000 = USD 80,000 → CGT at 20% = USD 16,000.
• The deferred USD 120,000 is added back to the capital amount in the 2026 return (Section 18(1)(ii)) and taxed as instalments fall due.

If the agreement is later cancelled, Section 18(2) brings the difference between amounts actually received and amounts already taxed into the capital amount/assessed loss of the cancellation year. Section 18(3) disapplies the Section 11(2)(h) de-minimis to suspensive amounts. Section 19 applies the analogous logic to credit sales where ownership passes on delivery.

D.6 Deceased estate — executor's realisation exempt (Section 10(b))

Facts. The late Mr. Dube's estate includes a house valued at USD 150,000 in the estate inventory. The executor sells it to a third party for USD 160,000 to pay creditors and distribute the residue.

Analysis. Amounts received on the realisation or distribution by the executor of a deceased estate of a specified asset forming part of the estate are exempt under Section 10(b). The executor's sale is therefore not a CGT event in the estate's hands. Critically, the heir/beneficiary inherits the asset at the deceased-estate valuation — Section 11(2)(a)(i) deems the acquisition cost to be "the amount at which the specified asset was valued in the deceased estate." So if a beneficiary later sells the house, their cost base starts at USD 150,000 (the estate value), and their acquisition date governs the 5%/20% split. Teaching point: death is not a deemed disposal for CGT in Zimbabwe; the gain is preserved and passes to the heir with the estate valuation as the new base cost. (Compare the donation scenario below, which is a deemed disposal.)

D.7 Corporate group — reorganisation deferred by election (Section 15)

Facts. Holdco (Pvt) Ltd transfers a factory to its wholly-owned subsidiary Subco (Pvt) Ltd as part of a group reconstruction. Market value USD 1,200,000; Holdco's Section 11(2)(a)–(d) cost is USD 700,000 (latent gain USD 500,000).

Analysis. As established in the Corporate Restructuring lesson, where companies are under the same control, an election under Section 15 deems the selling price equal to the sum of the transferor's Section 11(2)(a)–(d) deductions, producing a nil gain on the transfer — a deferral, not an exemption. Holdco's cost base and original acquisition date carry forward to Subco (the clawback proviso). If Subco later sells the factory to an outside party, the gain is computed "as if it had always been the first transferor's," so the deferred USD 500,000 is recaptured and the acquisition date for the 5%/20% test remains Holdco's original date. Guards apply: Section 14 fair-market-price override, Section 11(3) proviso (i) assessed-loss forfeiture against loss-buying, Section 29 → Income Tax Act Section 98 GAAR, and Section 30A clearance. The CGT 1 is filed ticking the Section 15 rollover exemption.

D.8 Listed marketable security — 1% final withholding (no CGT 1)

Facts. Mr. Sibanda sells 50,000 ZSE-listed shares through his broker on 10 February 2026 for USD 25,000.

Analysis. Under Section 39(a), the broker (a depositary) withholds 1% of the sale price = USD 250, and that 1% is the final tax. No CGT 1 is filed; no Section 38 computation is done. The seller's only "compliance" is to verify the broker withheld and remitted. The historical/cost base is irrelevant. Teaching point: listed shares are the simplest CGT case in Zimbabwe — a flat 1% turnover tax collected at source. (For an over-55 seller, the first US$1,800 of marketable-security proceeds is additionally exempt under Section 10(m).)

D.9 Unlisted marketable security — provisional withholding then reconcile

Facts. Ms. Ndlovu bought 1,000 unlisted shares in a private Zimbabwean company on 5 May 2021 for USD 50,000 and sells them to a related buyer on 20 February 2026 for USD 350,000.

Analysis (post-2019, USD). Unlisted shares attract 5% provisional withholding under Section 39(d) = USD 17,500, and the seller files a CGT 1 to reconcile to the 20% final tax on the gain.

Inflation allowance (2½%/yr) on cost 2021→2026 = 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 = 6 years → 15% × USD 50,000 = USD 7,500.

Note that a related-party sale invites a Section 14 fair-market-price check: if the price were understated, the Commissioner would substitute fair value. Teaching point: ZIMRA's own simplified guide example ignores the inflation allowance and shows the gain as 300,000; the 2½%/year USD allowance is a legitimate further deduction that a careful practitioner claims, reducing the gain to USD 292,500 here.

D.10 Non-resident seller — source and withholding

Facts. A non-resident individual sells immovable property in Mutare for USD 100,000. The property was acquired in 2017.

Analysis. CGT is a source-based tax (Section 8(1)(a): "from a source within Zimbabwe"). The location of the seller is irrelevant — what matters is that the asset is situated in Zimbabwe. A non-resident selling Zimbabwean immovable property is fully within the charge. Because the property was acquired before 22 February 2019, the rate is 5% of the gross = USD 5,000, collected via the conveyancer's withholding and the Section 30A clearance chokepoint, which is especially important against a non-resident who may otherwise be beyond ZIMRA's reach. Any double-tax-agreement relief (the Cross-Border CGT lesson treats this) would have to be claimed; most Zimbabwean DTAs preserve the situs state's right to tax gains on immovable property.

D.11 Donation of property — deemed sale at fair market value (Section 8(2)(b))

Facts. Mr. Gumbo donates a residential stand (not his PPR) to his adult nephew on 1 February 2026. He acquired it in 2021 for USD 20,000; its fair market value at donation is USD 70,000.

Analysis. A disposal otherwise than by sale is a deemed sale at fair market price under Section 8(2)(b). The donation therefore triggers CGT in Mr. Gumbo's hands as though he had sold for USD 70,000, even though he received nothing. (The housing-trust proviso does not apply.)

Inflation allowance (2½%/yr) on cost 2021→2026 = 6 years → 15% × USD 20,000 = USD 3,000.

The nephew takes the stand with a base cost of USD 70,000 (the value brought into the donor's gross capital amount — Section 11(2)(a)(ii)B). Teaching point: a donation is a dry tax charge — tax with no cash proceeds — so donors must plan for the liability, and this is exactly why Section 8(2) exists: to stop gains escaping CGT through non-sale transfers.

Practical CGT is shaped by a compact body of Zimbabwean authority, each case resolving a recurring operational dispute.

Commissioner-General v Sabeta; M v Commissioner-General: ZIMRA 2012 (HH 79-2012). ZIMRA may not refuse to assess and issue a CGT clearance certificate once the tax has been paid. This is the taxpayer's protection at the Section 30A chokepoint: the clearance is a ministerial act that follows payment, not a discretion ZIMRA can withhold to extract more. In practice it is the authority a conveyancer relies on to force the certificate out once the computed CGT is remitted.

Sibanda v Masanga 2024 (SC 90-2024). Confirms the Section 30A machinery from the other side: where the selling price is genuinely in doubt (and therefore the correct CGT cannot be fixed), the certificate may legitimately be refused until the price/tax is resolved. Read with Sabeta, the rule is: pay the right tax and the certificate must issue; leave the tax indeterminate and it may be withheld.

Old Mutual Zimbabwe Ltd v Commissioner-General of ZIMRA & ZIMRA 2016 (HH 143-2016). Proceeds of shares sold by employees through an Indigenisation Employee Share Trust to meet PAYE obligations constituted amounts liable to CGT. The case teaches that the purpose for which shares are sold does not remove the disposal from the CGT net — a disposal of a marketable security is a disposal, whatever the proceeds are used for. It is the authority against the argument "we only sold to fund a tax bill, so it shouldn't be taxed."

R (Pvt) Ltd v ZIMRA 2019 (HH 792-2019). Applies Section 8(2)(b) — the fair-market-value deeming for non-sale disposals — confirming that the Commissioner's fair-value substitution governs the gross capital amount where an asset moves otherwise than by an arm's-length sale. It underpins the donation and related-party scenarios above.

Commissioner of Taxes v C W (Pvt) Ltd 1989 (ZLR 361) and Ellis N.O. v Commissioner of Taxes 1992 (SC 1-1992). Both bear on the scope of the charge and exemptions (the C W and Ellis line is cited in Section 10 of the Act on the marketable-security/loan-stock exemptions), reminding the practitioner that an exemption is read strictly and that the character of the security matters.

Sommer Ranching (Pvt) Ltd v ZIMRA 1999 (SC 65-1999) and Law Society of Zimbabwe & Mollat v Minister of Finance 1999 (SC 92-1999). From the Special Rules and Enforcement lessons: Sommer Ranching on the operation of the rollover/relief provisions, and Law Society & Mollat on the constitutional limits of the Part IIIA withholding regime and the refund machinery — authority a practitioner uses when arguing that over-withheld CGT must be refunded rather than absorbed.

Where Zimbabwe lacks an on-point case for a particular computational dispute, the matter is governed by the statute and the Section 14 fair-market-price and Section 29 → ITA Section 98 GAAR machinery rather than by invented authority; persuasive South African gains-tax cases may be cited but only as non-binding.

Using the wrong rate because the acquisition date was misread. The single most expensive error. Practitioners use the date of the original sale agreement instead of the date of registration of transfer to the seller; the two can be months apart and straddle the 22 February 2019 line. Always pull the Deed of Transfer date. Getting this wrong flips the computation between 5% of gross and 20% of gain.

Applying the CPI A/B × C inflation allowance to a USD transaction. The CPI formula in Section 11(2)(c) is switched off for foreign-currency gains by Section 39A(9a), which substitutes the 2½%-per-year allowance. Conversely, applying the flat 2½% to a ZiG gain under-claims the (usually larger) CPI allowance. Match the allowance to the currency of the consideration.

Treating the 15% (or 5%) provisional withholding as the final tax. On immovable property the 15% withheld is provisional and almost always over-collects against a 20%-of-gain (or 5%-of-gross) final figure — the seller is owed a refund. Failing to file the CGT 1 and claim it simply gifts ZIMRA the difference. Only the 1% on listed securities is final.

Confusing repairs with improvements. Only capital improvements (Section 11(2)(b)) are added to the cost base; repairs and maintenance are not (they are an income-tax matter). Adding a repainting or a roof patch to the CGT cost base is a documentation failure ZIMRA flags on audit via the "schedule of improvements" attachment.

Conflating the income-tax recoupment with the CGT computation. Where capital allowances were claimed, the disposal triggers a recoupment taxed under the Income Tax Act, not under CGT. The recouped amount must be excluded from the CGT base (and disclosed on the CGT 1) to avoid double taxation, and a CGT loss does not shelter the recoupment.

Forgetting that a donation or other non-sale transfer is a deemed disposal. Donations, expropriations, cessions of deed-of-sale rights, redemptions and court-execution sales are deemed sales at fair market value (Section 8(2)). The donor faces a dry charge — tax with no cash — and must plan for it. By contrast, death/executor realisation is exempt (Section 10(b)) and passes the base cost to the heir; mixing up these two opposite rules is common.

Over-claiming the PPR and over-55 exemptions. The Section 10(l) exemption applies only to a genuine principal private residence sold by a person aged 55 or over — not to investment properties, and not to a part-let property except to the residential portion. The Section 21 reinvestment rollover taxes the unreinvested proportion (A/B × C) and must be elected by the CGT 1 filing date (Section 21(2a)); missing the election forfeits the relief.

Relying on the ZIMRA guide's section numbers. The CGT 1 guide cites "Section 13" (filing) and "Sections 65/66" (penalties); these do not match the Act, where the 30-day payment sits in Section 26, objection in Section 25, and offences are imported via Section 27. Cite the Act, not the guide, in any dispute — the guide itself says the legislation prevails.

Missing the 30-day clock and the Section 30A chokepoint. CGT is due within 30 days (Section 26); until it is paid and a clearance certificate issues, the Registrar cannot transfer title (Section 30A). A late CGT does not just attract interest — it freezes the whole conveyance.

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.

• Run the eight-step algorithm every time: specified asset? → disposal and date? → acquired before/after 22 Feb 2019? → currency? → gross/capital amount → Section 11 deductions → Section 38 rate → reconcile Section 39 withholding, file CGT 1, clear under Section 30A.
• The 22 February 2019 split (Section 38 Finance Act) is decisive: 5% of gross for pre-2019 assets (no deductions); 20% of the gain for post-2019 assets. Fix the registration date, not the agreement date.
• Currency drives the deductions (Section 39A(9a)): USD gains use the restricted set + 2½%/year allowance (no CPI, no US$50); only ZiG gains use the CPI A/B × C formula.
• Withholding is provisional except for listed shares: 15% (immovable) and 5% (unlisted shares) are credited and routinely refunded; 1% on listed shares is the final tax with no CGT 1.
• Non-sale transfers are deemed disposals at fair market value (Section 8(2)): donations, expropriations, cessions, redemptions, court sales — a dry charge to plan for; but executor realisation on death is exempt (Section 10(b)) and passes the base cost to the heir.
• Rollovers defer, they do not exempt: PPR reinvestment taxes only the unreinvested proportion (A/B × C, Section 21); same-control company transfers (Section 15) and business-property substitution (Section 22) carry the cost and acquisition date forward, recapturing the gain on the next non-qualifying sale.
• Two taxes can touch one disposal: capital allowances claimed earlier trigger an income-tax recoupment (excluded from CGT, disclosed on the CGT 1); a CGT loss does not shelter the recoupment.
• Procedure has teeth: CGT is due in 30 days (Section 26), and no clearance certificate means no transfer (Section 30A) — a late or indeterminate CGT freezes the whole conveyance (Sabeta; Sibanda v Masanga).
• Cite the Act, not the ZIMRA guide, where they diverge on section numbers; the legislation prevails.

Table 1 — The five most common disposal types at a glance

Table 2 — Currency determines the deduction set (Section 39A(9a))

Table 3 — Rate and withholding map (Finance Act Sections 38–39, year of assessment 2026)

Diagram — withholding reconciliation flow

flowchart TD
 A[Depositary withholds Section 39 WHT] --> B{Asset type}
 B -->|Listed security 1%| C[Final tax - no CGT 1 - stop]
 B -->|Immovable 15% or unlisted 5%| D[Provisional withholding]
 D --> E[Seller computes final CGT under Section 38]
 E --> F[Credit provisional WHT - Section 22J]
 F --> G{Compare}
 G -->|WHT greater than final| H[Refund - claim within 6 yrs]
 G -->|WHT less than final| I[Top-up on CGT 1]
 H --> J[File CGT 1 Section 26 - obtain Section 30A certificate]
 I --> J
 J --> K[Registrar transfers title]

Statutes & sections

• Capital Gains Tax Act [Chapter 23:01] — Section 6 (charge); Section 7 (calculation by reference to the Finance Act); Section 8(1) (definitions of gross capital amount, capital amount, capital gain); Section 8(2) (deemed disposals — (b) fair-market-value on non-sale disposals incl. donations, (c) expropriation, (d) court-execution sale, (e) maturity/redemption, (f)–(h) cession of deed-of-sale rights, stands, condominium interests); Section 9 (deemed accrual); Section 10 (exemptions — (b) executor realisation, (l) over-55 PPR, (m) first US$1,800 securities for over-55s, (n) securities suffering Section 39(c) WHT); Section 11 (deductions — (a) acquisition, (b) improvements, (c) CPI inflation allowance A/B × C, (d) selling costs, (e) bad debts, (f)/(g) taxed appeal costs, (h) US$50 de-minimis; (3) assessed-loss carry-forward; (4) no double deduction/election); Sections 15–17 (rollover elections — same-control companies, spouses, individual→controlled company); Section 18 (suspensive-sale spreading allowance, variables A/B/C/D); Section 19 (credit-sale instalment relief); Section 21 (PPR/residential-stand reinvestment rollover, formula A/B × C, base-cost reduction Section 21(3), election deadline Section 21(2a)); Section 22 (substitution of business property); Section 26 (payment within 30 days); Section 30A (no transfer without clearance certificate).
• Finance Act [Chapter 23:04] — Section 38 (final rates: (a) 5% of gross capital amount for assets acquired before 22 Feb 2019; (b) 20% of capital gain for assets acquired on/after 22 Feb 2019); Section 39 (withholding rates: (a) 1% final on listed securities — reduced from 2% by Finance Act 7/2024 w.e.f. 28 Dec 2024; (b) 15% on immovable property; (d) 5% on other marketable securities); Section 39A (currency of payment; 39A(9) ZiG/foreign-currency cases; 39A(9a) restricted deductions for foreign-currency gains + 2½%/year inflation allowance, inserted by Finance Act 7/2021 backdated to 22 Feb 2019).
• Income Tax Act [Chapter 23:06] — gross-income recoupment paragraph (capital-allowance recoupment on disposal of business premises, taxed under income tax, not CGT); Section 98 GAAR (imported into CGT via Section 29); capital-allowance regime (Fourth Schedule) relevant to the SME recoupment scenario.

Case law

• Commissioner-General v Sabeta; M v Commissioner-General: ZIMRA (HH 79-2012) — ZIMRA must assess and issue the CGT clearance certificate once the tax is paid (the Section 30A protection).
• Sibanda v Masanga (SC 90-2024) — clearance certificate may be refused where the selling price/tax is genuinely in doubt; complements Sabeta.
• Old Mutual Zimbabwe Ltd v Commissioner-General of ZIMRA & ZIMRA (HH 143-2016) — proceeds of employee-trust shares sold to meet PAYE are liable to CGT; the use of proceeds does not remove a share disposal from the charge.
• R (Pvt) Ltd v ZIMRA (HH 792-2019) — application of Section 8(2)(b) fair-market-value deeming on non-sale disposals.
• Commissioner of Taxes v C W (Pvt) Ltd (1989 ZLR 361); Ellis N.O. v Commissioner of Taxes (SC 1-1992) — scope of the charge and the loan-stock/marketable-security exemptions (cited in Section 10 of the Act).
• Sommer Ranching (Pvt) Ltd v ZIMRA (SC 65-1999) — operation of the relief/rollover provisions.
• Law Society of Zimbabwe & Mollat v Minister of Finance (SC 92-1999) — constitutional limits of the Part IIIA withholding regime and the refund machinery.

ZIMRA guidance

• Comprehensive Guide to Form CGT 1 — ZIMRA External Guide — filing of the CGT 1 for immovable property and marketable securities; identification fields; acquisition/improvement/disposal fields; exemptions checklist; depositary withholding; SSP filing; worked examples; attachments and declaration. (Note: the guide's references to "Section 13" filing and "Sections 65/66" penalties do not match the Act, which uses Sections 25/26/27 — the legislation prevails.)
• Comprehensive Guide to the Special CGT Return — ZIMRA External Guide — the special return route for designated disposals.
• ZIMRA Self-Service Portal (mytaxselfservice.zimra.co.zw) — the filing and payment channel for the CGT 1 and refund processing.