Calculation of Duty, Surtax & VAT — The Four-Step Build-Up

Every preceding module in this chapter has been building toward a single number: the total amount payable to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) when a consignment is cleared. Tariff Classification told us which rate applies; Customs Valuation told us which value the rate bites on; Rules of Origin and Preference told us whether that rate can be reduced. This lesson welds those three together and adds the remaining charges — surtax, excise duty, value added tax on importation, and ancillary levies — into one disciplined, repeatable computation. Master this and you can quote a clearance figure for any consignment at any border post in the country, and explain every cent of it by reference to a section of the law.

The charging architecture rests on four short but powerful sections of the Customs and Excise Act [Chapter 23:02]. Section 86 charges customs duty on imported goods "at the appropriate rates provided in the customs tariff". Section 95 charges excise duty on goods manufactured or produced within Zimbabwe. Section 97 charges surtax on goods that are either imported or locally manufactured, "at the appropriate rate provided in the surtax tariff". Section 98 subordinates all of these to the Act's machinery on agreements, suspensions, rebates, refunds, drawbacks and warehousing — which is why a preference or rebate established in an earlier module can lawfully shrink the duty. The tariffs themselves are not in the Act: under Section 225 the Minister of Finance imposes and amends them by statutory instrument, and under Section 226 the rate that applies is the rate in force at the time of importation or at the time of entry for consumption, whichever is the later. The operative customs tariff for this lesson is the Customs and Excise (Tariff) Notice, 2022 (SI 203 of 2022), the HS 2022 Tariff Handbook; the operative surtax instrument is the Customs and Excise (Surtax Tariff) Notice, 2012 (SI 112 of 2012) as amended.

The computation follows a fixed cascade, and the order is not negotiable because each step feeds the next. We begin with the FOB (Free On Board) price of the goods, add insurance and freight to reach CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight), apply the First Schedule valuation adjustments under Section 113 to reach the Value for Duty Purposes (VDP) — the customs value — then compute customs duty = VDP × tariff-line rate, reduced by any preference (SADC, COMESA, AfCFTA) or rebate. We then add surtax where the tariff line is listed, and excise duty where the good is excisable. The decisive Zimbabwean rule comes next, and it is the single point candidates most often get wrong: under Section 12(2) of the VAT Act [Chapter 23:12], the base for VAT on importation is the value for customs duty purposes plus any duty — excluding surtax. In other words the import-VAT base is VDP + customs duty + excise, but surtax is left out of it. VAT is then charged under Section 6(1)(b) of the VAT Act at the standard rate fixed by the annual Charging Act — 15.5% with effect from 1 January 2026 (up from 15%). The total payable is the sum of customs duty, surtax, excise, import VAT and any other levy (for example carbon tax on fuel).

Three cross-cutting rules govern the whole exercise. First, currency: where any value element is in a foreign currency, Section 115A converts it to the declaration currency at the customs exchange rate at the time of entry — the selling rate the Commissioner designates with the Reserve Bank, published fortnightly as the ZIMRA Rates of Exchange for Customs Purposes — and under Section 115 the Minister may designate goods as "foreign currency dutiable items" on which duty and import VAT must be paid in United States dollars. Second, preference acts only at Step 4: a valid certificate of origin reduces the rate, never the value, so its benefit then cascades downward into a smaller VAT base. Third, specifics are period-specific: tariff lines, duty/surtax/excise rates and exchange rates change with every annual Tariff Notice and Finance Act, so the figure is only ever as current as the instrument you read. This lesson grounds each rate in the source instruments named above and flags with ` any figure (notably the precise motor-vehicle excise band) that must be confirmed against the current notice before you rely on it. Having determined what a good is, what it is worth, and where it is from, we now learn to turn those three answers into the amount the trader actually pays.

Customs administration exists, at bottom, to collect the correct amount of revenue on cross-border trade while facilitating legitimate commerce. Every analytical skill a clearing agent or ZIMRA officer develops — reading the Harmonized System, building a transaction value, proving SADC origin — is ultimately instrumental to one operational act: assessing the duty. This module is therefore the convergence point of the customs chapter. It does not introduce a new body of law so much as it teaches you to orchestrate the law you already command into a single, defensible figure.

To see why orchestration is a discrete skill, consider what each earlier module gave you. In Tariff Classification you learned that goods are classified, under Section 87 of the Customs and Excise Act [Chapter 23:02], into the headings, subheadings and codes of the customs tariff using the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI), and that the classification fixes the rate of duty — for example 40% plus US$3 per kilogram on cotton T-shirts of tariff line 6109.10.00. In Customs Valuation you learned that the rate must be applied to a value determined under the First Schedule and Sections 104–116, beginning with the transaction value (the price actually paid or payable, adjusted under Section 113), and producing the Value for Duty Purposes (VDP). In Rules of Origin and Preference you learned that origin can unlock a lower rate — duty wholly suspended for COMESA-originating goods under SI 244 of 2000, or the SADC preferential rate under the SADC Trade Protocol, Annex I — but only at the rate step, never by changing the value. What no earlier module did was put all of this together and layer on the remaining charges. That is this lesson's work.

The fundamental concept to grasp from first principles is that the amount payable at the border is not a single tax but a stack of distinct charges, each with its own charging section, its own base, and its own rate, computed in a strict sequence because later charges are calculated on earlier ones. A trader who imagines "the duty" as one undifferentiated lump cannot diagnose an over-assessment, cannot quantify the benefit of a preference, and cannot explain to ZIMRA why a figure is wrong. A practitioner who sees the cascade — FOB to CIF to VDP to duty to surtax to excise to the VAT base to VAT to levies to total — can audit any assessment line by line.

Where does this sit in the customs and excise framework? It sits at the centre. Upstream of it are the determinative modules (classification, valuation, origin) that produce the inputs — rate, value, preference. Downstream of it are the procedural and relief modules: Documentation and Bills of Entry (the Form 21 declaration on which the computed figures are entered and self-assessed), ASYCUDA World (the system that recomputes and validates the assessment), Rebates, Refunds and Bonds, Drawbacks, and Bonded Warehousing (each of which modifies, defers or reverses a charge computed here), and ultimately Post-Clearance Audit and Appeals (which test whether the computation was right). The computation is thus the hinge on which the whole clearance turns.

Practical importance and ZIMRA enforcement interest could hardly be higher. The figure computed here is the figure paid; an error in it is an error in revenue. ZIMRA's Risk Management, Post-Clearance Audit and Investigations functions concentrate precisely on the levers of this computation — under-stated FOB values, mis-classification to a lower-rate line, false origin claims to capture a preference, and manipulation of the surtax/excise/VAT interaction. Because Section 114 of the Act provides that the acceptance of a bill of entry and the release of goods do not constitute a determination of value, ZIMRA retains the right to reopen the computation within the audit window and recover any shortfall under Section 224. The trader who computes correctly the first time avoids penalties under Sections 174 and 175; the trader who does not, funds them. We therefore approach this lesson as the place where revenue is won or lost, and where accuracy is everything.

The law that governs this computation falls into five layers: the charging sections that create each duty; the tariff-making power that fixes the rates; the valuation and currency machinery that fixes the base; the VAT-on-import bridge in the VAT Act; and the subsidiary instruments (Tariff Notice, Surtax Notice, Excise schedules) that carry the actual numbers. We take each in turn, citing every provision by section, schedule or SI, and noting where the law has changed.

B.1 The charging sections of the Customs and Excise Act [Chapter 23:02]

Four sections in Part VIII of the Act create the principal border charges. They are deceptively short — each is a single sentence of charge — but they are the constitutional foundation of everything that follows.

Section 86 (Customs duties): "Subject to section ninety-eight, there shall be charged, levied, collected and paid in respect of goods which are imported customs duties at the appropriate rates provided in the customs tariff." Three features deserve attention. First, the charge is on importation — the taxable event is the bringing of goods into Zimbabwe. Second, the rates are not in the Act; they are "provided in the customs tariff", a statutory instrument. Third, the charge is "subject to section ninety-eight", which means it yields to agreements, suspensions, rebates, refunds, drawbacks and remissions — the doorway through which preference and rebate enter the computation.

Section 95 (Excise duties): "There shall be charged, levied, collected and paid in respect of goods which are manufactured or produced within Zimbabwe, excise duties at the appropriate rates provided in the excise tariff." Note the contrast with Section 86: excise is, in its primary form, a tax on local manufacture, not on importation. This matters for our computation because excise on imported excisable goods (imported spirits, beer, fuel, tobacco, certain motor vehicles) is collected at the border as a matter of administration, but its conceptual home is the excise tariff, and the value on which it is charged is governed by Section 116 for local goods and by the customs value for imports.

Section 97 (Surtax): "There shall be charged, levied, collected and paid in respect of goods which are imported into or manufactured or produced within Zimbabwe, surtax at the appropriate rate provided in the surtax tariff." Surtax straddles both worlds — it can attach to an import and to a local product. It is a supplementary, protective charge, imposed selectively on listed tariff lines to discourage certain imports (for example second-hand goods and selected finished products) and is not a general charge on all imports.

Section 98 (Duties shall be subject to certain provisions): "The duties imposed under this Act shall be subject to all the provisions of this Act relating to agreements, suspensions, rebates, refunds, drawbacks or remissions of duty, or to the warehousing of goods." This is the integration clause. It is the legal reason a SADC preference, a COMESA suspension under SI 244 of 2000, a Second Schedule rebate, or a drawback can all operate on a charge created by Sections 86, 95 or 97. Without Section 98 the charging sections would be absolute; with it, they are the default against which every relief in the Act operates.

For completeness, Sections 90–93 create anti-dumping and countervailing duties — additional, trade-remedy charges the Minister may impose by notice in the Gazette where dumping or subsidisation injures a Zimbabwean industry. These are computed in addition to ordinary duty under Section 93(2) and are beyond the routine cascade, but the practitioner must know they exist because a consignment caught by an anti-dumping notice bears a charge over and above everything computed below.

B.2 The tariff-making power: Sections 225 and 226

The rates live in subsidiary legislation, and two sections govern how they are made and when they apply.

Section 225 (Imposition of tariffs and amendment thereof) empowers the Minister, "by statutory instrument", to impose tariffs of customs duties, excise duties and surtax, and to amend or replace them; "and the duties set out in any such tariff shall be charged, levied and collected accordingly." Two safeguards qualify the power. Under Section 225(2), an SI imposing or amending a tariff becomes void unless it is confirmed by a Bill that passes its second reading within the twenty-eight sitting days after the SI came into operation and becomes law within six months of that reading — a parliamentary leash on ministerial tax-making. Under Section 225(4), where a Gazette notice refers to a separate volume containing the customs tariff and states that the volume is the true SI, that Tariff Handbook volume is deemed to be the statutory instrument — which is precisely the status of the SI 203 of 2022 Tariff Handbook we rely on.

Section 226 (Rates of duty in relation to time of importation, exportation or entry) fixes the temporal rule. Imported goods are "liable to the rates of customs duty and surtax which are applicable to those goods at the time when they are imported or at the time when they are entered for consumption, whichever is the later", with a proviso that, except for goods taken out of bond, the duty "shall not be less than that payable at the time of importation". A second proviso allows a refund of excess duty where, within six months of importation, the importer satisfies the officer that the goods qualified for a conditional suspension, rebate or remission. For excise, Section 226(b) fixes liability at the rate "applicable to those goods at the time when they are delivered from the place of manufacture for consumption or are used or otherwise disposed of by the manufacturer." The practical lesson: use the rate in force on the entry date, and be alert that a new Tariff Notice landing between importation and entry can change the figure.

B.3 The valuation and currency machinery: Sections 104–116

The base on which the rates bite is the customs value, built under Part X (Sections 104–116) and the First Schedule, which give domestic effect to GATT Article VII and the WTO Valuation Agreement. The full six-method hierarchy was the subject of the Customs Valuation module; for the computation we need three anchors. Section 105 defines the Value for Duty Purposes (VDP) as the transaction value determined under Sections 106–112. Section 113 prescribes the adjustments that convert the price to a customs value — most importantly Section 113(2), which brings transport and insurance to the place of importation into the value and contains the deeming provisos we apply when actual figures are absent: for goods imported by air, freight and insurance are deemed to be fifteen per centum (15%) of the FOB value; for goods imported other than by air, insurance is deemed to be one per centum (1%) of FOB, and where freight must be deemed it is five per centum (5%) of FOB for goods routed from Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini (Swaziland), Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia or Malawi (plus proved primary freight) or seven and one-half per centum (7.5%) of FOB for other origins; for goods imported by post, postage and insurance are deemed 15% of FOB where they cannot otherwise be ascertained.

Two currency sections complete the machinery. Section 115A requires that any value element expressed in a foreign currency be converted at the customs exchange rate at the time the goods were entered — "the selling rate for that foreign currency as designated by the Commissioner in consultation with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe", published as the fortnightly ZIMRA Rates of Exchange for Customs Purposes. Section 115 empowers the Minister to designate goods as "foreign currency dutiable items", on which duty and import or value-added tax must be paid in United States dollars, and Section 115(3) (substituted by Act 3 of 2009) lets the Minister designate all items in the customs tariff as foreign-currency dutiable. In current practice the great majority of commercial imports are assessed and paid in USD, which is why the worked examples below are denominated in USD.

B.4 The VAT-on-import bridge: Sections 6(1)(b), 12 and 12A of the VAT Act [Chapter 23:12]

Import VAT is not charged by the Customs and Excise Act; it is charged by the Value Added Tax Act [Chapter 23:12] and merely collected by ZIMRA at the border using customs machinery. Section 6(1)(b) is the charging provision: VAT is "charged, levied and collected … at such rate as may be fixed by the Charging Act on the value of … the importation of any goods into Zimbabwe by any person". The rate is fixed by the annual Charging Act (Finance Act), not by the VAT Act itself; the standard rate is 15.5% with effect from 1 January 2026 (the rate was 15% before that date).

The base is the load-bearing rule of this entire lesson. Section 12(2) provides that "the value to be placed on the importation of goods into Zimbabwe which are entered for home consumption … shall be deemed to be the value thereof for customs duty purposes, plus any duty, excluding surtax, levied in terms of the said Act in respect of the importation of such goods." Parse it carefully: the import-VAT base is the customs value (VDP) plus any duty — which includes customs duty and excise duty — but expressly excludes surtax. The inclusion of duty in the base was effected by the Finance (No.3) Act 10 of 2009 with effect from 1 January 2010; before that, VAT was charged on the bare customs value. This is the figure many practitioners call the Duty Paid Value (DPV) for VAT purposes, and the Zimbabwean DPV is therefore VDP + customs duty + excise, not a figure that includes surtax. The generic international template that adds surtax into the VAT base is wrong for Zimbabwe; follow the statute.

Two further VAT provisions matter. Section 12(1) ties the timing of import VAT to Section 36 of the Customs Act (when goods are deemed imported / entered for home consumption). Section 12A allows deferment of import VAT on capital goods for a prescribed period (up to 180 days, extendable for major investment projects under amendments gazetted in 2024), which is why a manufacturer importing plant may legitimately show import VAT as deferred rather than paid at clearance.

B.5 The subsidiary instruments carrying the numbers

Finally, the actual rates come from instruments that change frequently and must always be read in their current edition:

• Customs and Excise (Tariff) Notice, 2022 — SI 203 of 2022 (the HS 2022 Tariff Handbook), which repealed and replaced SI 53 of 2017. It carries the General and M.F.N. customs-duty rate columns and the excise indicators for each tariff line. Confirmed lines used below include 6109.10.00 (cotton T-shirts) at 40% + US$3/Kg, 6109.90.10 (reflective vests) at 10% + US$5/Kg, 8703.21.20 (ambulances and hearses) at 5%, 8703.21.90 (other passenger cars of ≤1,000 cc) at 40%, and 6309.00.00 (worn clothing) at US$5/Kg.
• Customs and Excise (Surtax Tariff) Notice, 2012 — SI 112 of 2012 (gazetted 22 June 2012, amended by SI 193 of 2012 and SI 91 of 2015), which charges surtax of 25% ad valorem on importation of the goods whose tariff headings or descriptions are listed in its Schedule, and 35% ad valorem on second-hand light passenger motor vehicles of heading 8703 that are more than five years old from the date of manufacture (item inserted by SI 91 of 2015 w.e.f. 1 September 2015).
• The excise tariff and excise/special-surtax public notices, which carry the specific and ad valorem excise rates on fuel, alcohol, tobacco, airtime (special excise under Section 172F) and second-hand motor vehicles (special excise under Section 172B). Excise rates are revised frequently by Finance Act and SI; confirm the rate for the period.

Where the law has changed, the practitioner must apply the current position and be able to contrast it with the old: the VAT-on-import base moved from "customs value only" to "customs value plus duty (excluding surtax)" on 1 January 2010; the standard VAT rate moved from 15% to 15.5% on 1 January 2026; and the customs tariff itself migrated from the HS 2017 edition (SI 53 of 2017) to the HS 2022 edition (SI 203 of 2022). Always check for a newer Tariff Notice, Surtax Notice or Finance Act than the source in hand, because customs is amended annually and often mid-year.

The computation is best understood as a cascade of ten steps, in which the output of each step is an input to a later one. We build the cascade from the ground up, defining every term on first use and explaining not only how each charge is computed but why the law structures it that way.

C.1 Step 1 — FOB: the price of the goods at the point of export

FOB (Free On Board) is the price of the goods at the point of export, before international insurance and freight — the value of the goods "free on board" the vessel, aircraft or vehicle at the place of export. It is the starting block of the customs value because it represents the commercial price of the goods themselves, stripped of the cost of getting them to Zimbabwe. In a clean transaction between unrelated parties, FOB is simply the invoice price on FOB terms. Where the invoice is on other Incoterms (for example CIF or Ex-Works), the practitioner must rebuild the FOB figure by adding or removing the cost elements the Incoterm includes, because the Act's valuation machinery is built around FOB plus statutory additions.

C.2 Step 2 — CIF: adding insurance and freight to the place of importation

CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight) is the customs-value building block obtained by adding to FOB the insurance and the freight to the place of importation:

CIF = FOB + Insurance + Freight (to the place of importation)

The legal authority for bringing transport and insurance into the value is Section 113(2) of the Customs and Excise Act, which gives effect to the WTO Valuation Agreement's treatment of delivery costs. Where the actual freight and insurance are evidenced (by the carrier's invoice and the insurance certificate), those actual figures are used. Where they are not ascertainable, the deeming provisos of Section 113(2) supply them, and the practitioner must know them cold because a very large share of small-consignment and courier clearances rely on them:

• Imported by air: freight and insurance together are deemed 15% of FOB. The same 15% applies to air goods carried free of charge, at reduced cost, or as commercial goods in a passenger's baggage.
• Imported other than by air: insurance is deemed 1% of FOB; and where freight must be deemed (goods carried free/reduced, or the importer's own transport collects them), freight is deemed 5% of FOB for goods routed from Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia or Malawi (in addition to the proved primary sea/air freight from the original country of export, where applicable) or 7.5% of FOB for goods from elsewhere in Africa.
• Imported by post: postage and insurance reflected on the postal documents are used; where they cannot be ascertained, they are deemed 15% of FOB.

The conceptual point is that Zimbabwe values goods on a CIF basis — the cost of the goods delivered to the border — so that traders importing identical goods bear comparable duty regardless of how cheaply or expensively one of them happened to arrange carriage.

C.3 Step 3 — VDP: the First Schedule adjustments to reach the customs value

The Value for Duty Purposes (VDP), also called the customs value, is the value to which the tariff-line rate is applied. It is reached by taking the transaction value (the price actually paid or payable) and applying the Section 113 adjustments. Section 113(1) adds certain elements not already in the price: selling commissions and brokerage (but not buying commission), the cost of containers and packing, the value of assists (materials, tools, dies, moulds or design work supplied by the buyer free or at reduced cost for use in producing the goods, where the work is done outside Zimbabwe), and royalties and licence fees payable as a condition of sale (excluding the right to reproduce the goods in Zimbabwe). Section 113(3) deducts elements that are in the price but should not bear duty — notably internal transport within Zimbabwe and separately-identified buying commission. The result is the VDP: in a straightforward CIF transaction with no assists, royalties or post-importation costs, VDP = CIF, but the practitioner must always test for the Section 113 adjustments before equating the two.

Because the VDP is the foundation of every charge that follows, an error here propagates through the entire cascade. This is why ZIMRA's Post-Clearance Audit concentrates so heavily on valuation, and why Section 114 preserves the right to revalue after release: an under-stated VDP under-states duty, surtax, excise and import VAT simultaneously.

C.4 Step 4 — Customs duty: rate × value, less preference and rebate

Customs duty is computed under Section 86 as:

Customs duty = VDP × tariff-line rate, reduced by any preference or rebate that applies.

The rate comes from the classification of the goods (the work of the Tariff Classification module) read against the General or M.F.N. column of the current Tariff Notice (SI 203 of 2022). Rates come in three forms, and the practitioner must recognise each:

• Ad valorem — a percentage of the VDP (e.g. 40% on passenger cars of 8703.21.90). This is the commonest form.
• Specific — a fixed money amount per unit of quantity (e.g. US$5 per kilogram on worn clothing of 6309.00.00), independent of value.
• Compound — both an ad valorem and a specific component added together (e.g. 40% + US$3 per kilogram on cotton T-shirts of 6109.10.00). Compound duties exist to defeat under-valuation: even if the declared value is suppressed, the specific per-kilogram floor still bites.

This is the only step at which preference operates. A valid certificate of origin does not change the VDP; it changes the rate, substituting the preferential rate for the General/M.F.N. rate. Under the SADC Trade Protocol (Annex I) an originating good enters at the SADC preferential rate; under SI 244 of 2000 the duty on a COMESA-originating good (complying with the COMESA Protocol on Rules of Origin) is wholly suspended; under bilateral agreements and AfCFTA the agreed phase-down rate applies. The preferential margin is the difference between the General rate and the preferential rate, and — as the worked examples will show — because import VAT is charged on a base that includes customs duty, a preference does not merely save the duty itself: it also shrinks the VAT base, so the saving cascades.

Rebates operate here too. A rebate (Second Schedule rebate items, accessed by the correct Customs Procedure Code (CPC)) reduces or eliminates the duty for a qualifying use or person — for example a manufacturer's rebate on industrial inputs, or a returning resident's rebate. A rebate is a creature of Section 98 and the rebate regulations, and like a preference it operates on the duty, then cascades into the VAT base.

C.5 Step 5 — Surtax: a selective, protective charge on listed lines

Surtax is charged under Section 97 at the rate in the surtax tariff (SI 112 of 2012 as amended). It is not a general charge on all imports; it attaches only to the tariff headings and descriptions listed in the Schedule to the surtax notice. The standard rate is 25% ad valorem, charged on the same value base as customs duty (the VDP). A heavily-enforced special case is second-hand light passenger motor vehicles of heading 8703 more than five years old, on which surtax is 35% ad valorem (item inserted by SI 91 of 2015). Surtax exists as a protective and behavioural instrument — it raises the landed cost of goods the state wishes to discourage (ageing second-hand vehicles, selected finished imports) to nudge demand toward newer or locally-made alternatives. The crucial computational property of surtax, returned to at Step 8, is that it is excluded from the import-VAT base.

C.6 Step 6 — Excise duty: on excisable goods, specific, ad valorem or compound

Excise duty is charged under Section 95 (local manufacture) and collected at the border on imported excisable goods. Excisable classes in Zimbabwe include clear and opaque beer, wines and spirits, cigarettes and tobacco, fuel (petrol, diesel, paraffin), airtime (special excise under Section 172F) and certain motor vehicles (with a special excise on sales of second-hand motor vehicles under Section 172B). Excise rates, like customs rates, may be specific (e.g. cents per litre of fuel), ad valorem (a percentage, common on motor vehicles by engine capacity), or compound. For locally-manufactured excisable goods, Section 116 fixes the value at factory cost plus 25%, or the selling price, whichever the Act prescribes; for imports, excise is charged on the customs value. Excise is included in the import-VAT base (it is "any duty" within Section 12(2) of the VAT Act), in contrast to surtax.

C.7 Step 7 — The import-VAT base (DPV): VDP + duty + excise, excluding surtax

We now assemble the base for import VAT. Under Section 12(2) of the VAT Act [Chapter 23:12], the value placed on the importation is the value for customs duty purposes plus any duty, excluding surtax. Concretely:

Import-VAT base (DPV) = VDP + customs duty + excise duty (surtax is excluded)

This is the single most error-prone point in customs computation, so we state it three ways. First, positively: the base is the customs value uplifted by the customs duty and the excise duty actually charged. Second, negatively: the base does not include surtax, even though surtax has been charged at Step 5 and is part of the total the importer pays. Third, historically: duty was folded into the VAT base only from 1 January 2010 (Finance (No.3) Act 10 of 2009); the deliberate exclusion of surtax has been a constant feature, reflecting a policy choice not to "tax the protective tax". A practitioner who includes surtax in the VAT base over-assesses the importer; one who excludes the duty under-assesses. Get this exactly right.

C.8 Step 8 — VAT on importation: base × the standard rate

VAT on importation is charged under Section 6(1)(b) of the VAT Act at the standard rate fixed by the Charging Act:

Import VAT = DPV × 15.5% (standard rate from 1 January 2026; 15% before that date)

Import VAT is charged regardless of whether the importer is a registered operator: Section 6(1)(b) charges "the importation of any goods … by any person". A VAT-registered importer who uses the goods to make taxable supplies will generally recover this import VAT as input tax on a subsequent VAT return, but it is nonetheless paid in full at the border (unless deferred on capital goods under Section 12A). This is why even a duty-free consignment still bears import VAT: the duty being zero simply means the DPV equals the VDP, and 15.5% is charged on that.

C.9 Step 9 — Other levies

Certain goods bear additional levies collected at importation. The most important is carbon tax on imported fuel. (The AIDS levy is a 3% surcharge on income tax, not a customs charge, and does not arise on importation — a common confusion to avoid.) Where a levy applies, it is added to the total but, unless the specific levy law provides otherwise, it does not enter the VAT base.

C.10 Step 10 — Total payable to ZIMRA

The total is the simple sum of the distinct charges:

Total payable = Customs duty + Surtax + Excise + Import VAT + Other levies

The total is what the importer self-assesses on the Form 21 bill of entry and what ASYCUDA World independently recomputes. The discipline of showing every line — rather than a single lump — is what makes the figure auditable, defensible on appeal, and correct.

The computation does not happen in a vacuum; it is performed inside the clearance process on the Form 21 bill of entry, lodged in ASYCUDA World (the Automated System for Customs Data, ZIMRA's electronic declaration platform), and validated by the system before release. The following numbered steps trace a standard import for home consumption end to end, showing exactly where each computational input enters.

1. Assemble the documents. Before keying anything, the clearing agent collects the commercial invoice (showing the price and Incoterm), the packing list (showing weights and quantities — essential for specific and compound duties), the Bill of Lading or Air Waybill (showing the route and carrier — which determines whether the air or non-air Section 113 deeming applies), the certificate of origin (Form 61/65, SADC Annex I certificate, or COMESA certificate — required to claim a preferential rate at Step 4), the freight and insurance invoices (to evidence the actual CIF, failing which the deeming provisos apply), and the value declaration (Forms 52A/53A) where required by regulation 24 of the General Regulations.

2. Classify the goods. Determine the tariff line under Section 87 and the GRI, and read the General/M.F.N. customs-duty rate, the excise indicator, and the unit of quantity (e.g. "Kg") from the Tariff Notice (SI 203 of 2022). The unit of quantity matters because a specific duty (US$/Kg) is charged on that unit.

3. Build the value. Establish the FOB, add insurance and freight (actual or deemed under Section 113(2)) to reach CIF, apply any Section 113(1)/(3) adjustments, and convert any foreign-currency element at the customs exchange rate for the entry date (Section 115A; the fortnightly ZIMRA Rates of Exchange for Customs Purposes). The result is the VDP.

4. Select the Customs Procedure Code (CPC). The CPC is the coded purpose of the declaration in ASYCUDA — home consumption, warehousing, transit, temporary import, a rebate item, and so on. The CPC drives the duty treatment: a home-consumption CPC charges the full cascade; a rebate CPC invokes the Second Schedule relief; a warehousing CPC defers the charge. Choosing the wrong CPC is one of the most common and costly clearance errors.

5. Capture the declaration and let ASYCUDA compute. The agent keys the value, classification, origin and CPC into the Single Administrative Document (SAD) in ASYCUDA World. The system applies the rate, computes customs duty, surtax (if the line is listed), excise (if excisable), assembles the DPV (VDP + duty + excise, excluding surtax), computes import VAT at 15.5%, adds any levy, and produces the total assessment. The agent must independently reproduce this figure — never trust the system blindly, because a mis-keyed value or wrong CPC produces a confidently wrong total.

6. Submit and receive the risk lane. On submission ASYCUDA's risk-targeting engine routes the declaration to a lane: Green (released without intervention), Yellow (documentary check — an officer scrutinises the invoice, origin certificate and value declaration), or Red (physical examination of the goods). Valuation, classification and origin discrepancies are the principal triggers for Yellow and Red.

7. Officer assessment and adjustment. On a Yellow or Red lane the officer verifies the classification, value and origin, and may adjust the assessment — reclassifying to a higher-rate line, uplifting an under-stated value, or disallowing a preference where the certificate of origin is missing or defective. Under the Section 44 proviso, where a certificate of origin is missing or incomplete the goods may be released against a deposit equal to the preferential margin, pending production of the certificate.

8. Pay the duty. The importer pays the assessed total to ZIMRA. For foreign-currency dutiable items under Section 115, payment of duty and import VAT is made in United States dollars. Payment is generally due on entry or within the period the Act allows.

9. Release. On payment (or on lodging an acceptable bond for a deferred regime), ZIMRA releases the goods. Release is not a final determination of value: Section 114 preserves ZIMRA's right to reassess.

10. Post-clearance obligations. The importer must retain records for six years (Section 223), because the assessment can be reopened by Post-Clearance Audit under Section 223A, and any shortfall recovered under Section 224. Where a conditional suspension, rebate or remission applied for which a certificate later becomes available, a refund of excess duty may be claimed within six months under the Section 226 proviso.

We now apply the cascade to four fully-worked Zimbabwean scenarios. Each shows every line, states the rate, tariff line and exchange basis, and flags any unconfirmed figure. All figures are in United States dollars, consistent with Section 115 (foreign-currency dutiable items), and any foreign-currency element is taken to have been converted at the ZIMRA Rate of Exchange for Customs Purposes for the fortnight of entry under Section 115A. For the worked examples we assume the entry date falls on or after 1 January 2026, so the VAT standard rate is 15.5%.

E.1 Worked Example 1 — Cotton T-shirts at the General rate (sea + road via Beitbridge)

Facts. A Harare retailer imports 500 cotton T-shirts from China. The supplier invoices FOB USD 4,000; total net weight is 250 Kg. The goods move by sea to Durban and by road to Beitbridge. The carrier's invoice shows freight USD 600 and the insurer's certificate shows insurance USD 50. There are no assists, royalties or post-importation costs. The goods are classified to 6109.10.00 (T-shirts, of cotton), customs-duty rate 40% + US$3/Kg (Tariff Notice SI 203 of 2022). Clothing of this line is not listed in the surtax Schedule and is not excisable.

Step 1 FOB = USD 4,000.00
Step 2 + Insurance (actual) = USD 50.00
 + Freight to place of importation (actual) = USD 600.00
 = CIF = USD 4,650.00
Step 3 No Section 113(1)/(3) adjustments -> VDP (customs value) = USD 4,650.00
Step 4 Customs duty:
 ad valorem 40% x 4,650.00 = USD 1,860.00
 specific US$3 x 250 Kg = USD 750.00
 Customs duty (compound, components added) = USD 2,610.00
Step 5 Surtax (line not listed in SI 112 of 2012 Schedule) = USD 0.00
Step 6 Excise (cotton T-shirts not excisable) = USD 0.00
Step 7 Import-VAT base (DPV) = VDP + duty + excise (excl surtax)
 = 4,650.00 + 2,610.00 + 0.00 = USD 7,260.00
Step 8 Import VAT = 7,260.00 x 15.5% = USD 1,125.30
Step 9 Other levies = USD 0.00
 TOTAL PAYABLE TO ZIMRA
 = 2,610.00 + 0.00 + 0.00 + 1,125.30 + 0.00 = USD 3,735.30

Teaching points. The compound duty adds an ad valorem and a specific component; the specific US$3/Kg floor is precisely what protects the revenue if the FOB is suppressed. Import VAT is charged on the DPV of 7,260, which already contains the customs duty — so the duty is, in effect, taxed again by VAT, a deliberate feature of the post-2010 base.

E.2 Worked Example 2 — The same T-shirts, but SADC-originating (the preference cascade)

Facts. Identical goods, value and weight, but now sourced from a South African manufacturer and supported by a valid SADC certificate of origin (Annex I), so the goods qualify for the SADC preferential rate. We illustrate with a preferential rate of Free (0%).

Step 1 FOB = USD 4,000.00
Step 2 + Insurance + Freight (as before) = USD 650.00
 = CIF = USD 4,650.00
Step 3 VDP (UNCHANGED - preference never touches the value) = USD 4,650.00
Step 4 Customs duty at SADC preferential rate (0%) = USD 0.00
Step 5 Surtax = USD 0.00
Step 6 Excise = USD 0.00
Step 7 Import-VAT base (DPV) = 4,650.00 + 0.00 + 0.00 = USD 4,650.00
Step 8 Import VAT = 4,650.00 x 15.5% = USD 720.75
 TOTAL PAYABLE TO ZIMRA = USD 720.75

The cascade made visible. Against Example 1, the preference saves the whole duty of USD 2,610. But it saves more: because the DPV shrinks from 7,260 to 4,650, the import VAT falls from 1,125.30 to 720.75, a further USD 404.55. The total saving is USD 3,014.55 on an otherwise identical consignment — the quantitative reason origin documentation is worth fighting for, and the reason ZIMRA scrutinises preference claims so hard. Note that preference acted only at Step 4 (the rate); the VDP at Step 3 was untouched, exactly as the law requires.

E.3 Worked Example 3 — A second-hand passenger vehicle via Beitbridge (surtax + excise; surtax excluded from VAT)

Facts. An individual imports a 7-year-old petrol passenger car, 2,400 cc, from Japan, routed by sea to Durban and road to Beitbridge. After conversion at the customs rate for the fortnight, FOB = USD 6,000; proved primary freight = USD 1,200; the car is not imported by air, so insurance is deemed 1% of FOB = USD 60 under Section 113(2)(iii). The car is classified to heading 8703 (passenger motor vehicle), customs-duty rate 40%. Because it is a second-hand light passenger vehicle of heading 8703 over five years old, surtax is 35% ad valorem (SI 91 of 2015). Motor-vehicle excise applies ad valorem by engine capacity; we use an illustrative 25% for the 2,000–3,000 cc band, flagged for verification.

Step 1 FOB (converted at ZIMRA customs rate for the fortnight) = USD 6,000.00
Step 2 + Freight (proved) = USD 1,200.00
 + Insurance (deemed 1% of FOB, Section 113(2)(iii)) = USD 60.00
 = CIF = USD 7,260.00
Step 3 VDP (no further Section 113 adjustments) = USD 7,260.00
Step 4 Customs duty = 40% x 7,260.00 = USD 2,904.00
Step 5 Surtax = 35% x 7,260.00 (second-hand >5yr, SI 91/2015) = USD 2,541.00
Step 6 Excise = 25% x 7,260.00 = USD 1,815.00
Step 7 Import-VAT base (DPV) = VDP + duty + excise (EXCL surtax)
 = 7,260.00 + 2,904.00 + 1,815.00 = USD 11,979.00
Step 8 Import VAT = 11,979.00 x 15.5% = USD 1,856.75
 TOTAL PAYABLE TO ZIMRA
 = 2,904.00 + 2,541.00 + 1,815.00 + 1,856.75 = USD 9,116.75

Teaching points. This example exists to drill the surtax exclusion. The importer pays surtax of 2,541, yet that 2,541 is not in the VAT base: the DPV of 11,979 is VDP + duty + excise only. Had surtax been wrongly folded in, the base would have been 14,520 and the VAT 2,250.60 — an over-assessment of USD 393.85 on a single car. The figure also shows how punitive the stack is on ageing vehicles: on a USD 6,000 car, the state collects over USD 9,000, which is the protective policy of the 35% surtax working as intended.

E.4 Worked Example 4 — An air-courier consignment (the Section 113 air-deeming proviso)

Facts. An SME imports laptops by air courier. The invoice shows FOB USD 2,000 with no separate freight or insurance. Under Section 113(2)(i), because the goods came by air, freight and insurance together are deemed 15% of FOB. Computers of this kind are commonly duty-free; we use a 0% customs-duty rate, flagged, to show that even duty-free goods bear import VAT.

Step 1 FOB = USD 2,000.00
Step 2 + Freight & insurance deemed 15% of FOB (Section 113(2)(i)) = USD 300.00
 = CIF / VDP = USD 2,300.00
Step 3 VDP = USD 2,300.00
Step 4 Customs duty = 0% x 2,300.00 = USD 0.00
Step 5 Surtax = USD 0.00
Step 6 Excise = USD 0.00
Step 7 Import-VAT base (DPV) = 2,300.00 + 0.00 + 0.00 = USD 2,300.00
Step 8 Import VAT = 2,300.00 x 15.5% = USD 356.50
 TOTAL PAYABLE TO ZIMRA = USD 356.50

Teaching points. Two lessons. First, the air-deeming proviso lifts the value by a flat 15% where freight and insurance are not separately evidenced — so even a courier parcel with a bare goods invoice has a CIF above its FOB. Second, duty-free does not mean charge-free: the consignment carries no customs duty yet still attracts USD 356.50 of import VAT, because VAT under Section 6(1)(b) is charged on the DPV irrespective of the duty rate.

The same cascade applies to everyone, but the inputs, documentary thresholds and risk profile differ markedly across the groups ZIMRA deals with. Understanding these differences is what separates a clerk who can key a declaration from an adviser who can plan a clearance.

Individual travellers and returning residents. A person arriving at Beitbridge, Forbes or Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport with personal goods is assessed not on a Form 21 but on a Form 47/49 traveller's declaration, and benefits from the Travellers' Rebate under the Second Schedule — a value threshold below which accompanied goods are admitted free of duty, with a flat-rate assessment on a band above it. For goods above the rebate, the full cascade applies, but the value is typically the purchase price evidenced by receipts. Returning residents importing a motor vehicle may qualify for a returning-resident's rebate of duty (subject to strict residence and ownership conditions), which — like any rebate — operates at Step 4 and cascades into a smaller VAT base. The traveller's risk profile is physical-presence based: officers examine the goods directly, so under-declaration is detected at the counter rather than by audit.

Small cross-border traders. Informal and small traders moving goods through Beitbridge, Plumtree, Chirundu or Nyamapanda use a simplified clearance regime with a simplified bill of entry for consignments under a prescribed value threshold (historically US$1,000 under regulation 18(2) of the General Regulations). The cascade still runs, but the documentary burden is lighter and a flat-rate assessment may apply to certain goods. The risk here is fragmentation — splitting one commercial consignment into several "small" ones to stay under the simplified threshold and dodge the full rate — which ZIMRA Risk Management specifically targets.

SMEs. A small manufacturer or retailer clearing a container of inputs or stock files a full Form 21 through a licensed clearing agent, must lodge a value declaration (Forms 52A/53A) under regulation 24, and engages with the full cascade including preference where it imports from SADC or COMESA suppliers. SMEs frequently access rebates on industrial inputs via the correct CPC, and the difference between getting the CPC right and wrong is the difference between a rebated input and a fully-dutiable one. Their risk profile centres on classification (choosing a lower-rate line) and origin (claiming a preference without a watertight certificate).

Large corporates. Mining houses, manufacturers, supermarket chains and multinationals clearing high volumes through Beitbridge or Plumtree operate at the most sophisticated end. They may hold Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status under Section 216B, conferring faster clearance and a lighter intervention rate; they import capital goods under Section 12A import-VAT deferment; they run bonded warehouses under Sections 68–70 to defer the entire charge until goods are entered for home consumption; and they manage anti-dumping exposure on competing imports. For them the computation is a cash-flow and planning exercise as much as a compliance one: the timing of entry (Section 226), the choice of warehousing versus immediate home consumption, and the structuring of preference-eligible supply chains all move the number. Their risk profile is systemic — ZIMRA tests them through Post-Clearance Audit rather than at the border, reconstructing the cascade across thousands of declarations.

Zimbabwean customs computation disputes turn overwhelmingly on the inputs to the cascade — classification and valuation — rather than on the arithmetic of the cascade itself, because the arithmetic is statutory and mechanical. The reported authority therefore illuminates how the courts police the rate and the value.

On classification (which fixes the rate at Step 4). The leading persuasive authority is the South African Appellate Division in Secretary for Customs and Excise v Thomas Barlow & Sons Ltd 1970 (2) SA 660 (A) — non-binding in Zimbabwe but consistently treated as instructive — which established the three-stage classification enquiry: ascertain the meaning of the relevant headings and section/chapter notes, consider the nature and characteristics of the goods, and then select the heading. The significance for computation is direct: because the rate flows from the heading, a classification dispute is a duty dispute, and Section 87(3) makes the Commissioner's classification binding subject to appeal to the Fiscal Appeal Court under the Fiscal Appeal Court Act [Chapter 23:05]. The further persuasive authority International Business Machines SA (Pty) Ltd v Commissioner for Customs and Excise 1985 (4) SA 852 (A) (non-binding) reinforced that goods are classified by their objective characteristics at the time of importation, not by the use to which the importer later puts them — a principle that prevents traders from arguing into a lower-rate line on the strength of intended use.

On valuation (which fixes the base at Step 3). The architecture of Part X (Sections 104–116) gives effect to GATT Article VII and the WTO Valuation Agreement, under which transaction value (Section 106) is the primary method and the alternatives apply in strict sequence. The operational principle the courts enforce — and which Section 111A codifies — is that where ZIMRA has reasonable doubt about a declared value, it may call for further information and, if doubt persists, reject the transaction value and revalue under the prescribed fallbacks, consistent with WTO Decision 6.1. The computational consequence is that an importer cannot secure a low duty simply by declaring a low price; the value is testable, and Section 114 preserves the right to revalue after release.

Where no on-point Zimbabwean authority exists on the surtax/excise/VAT interaction, the position is governed squarely by statute — Section 97 for surtax, Section 95 for excise, and Section 12(2) of the VAT Act for the exclusion of surtax from the VAT base — rather than by case law, and the practitioner should reason from the sections, not invent a precedent.

The cascade is mechanical, which means its errors are predictable. The following are the mistakes ZIMRA most often finds, each tied to the correct practice.

Including surtax in the VAT base. The single commonest computational error. Section 12(2) of the VAT Act includes "any duty, excluding surtax". Folding surtax into the DPV over-assesses the importer (as Example 3 showed, by USD 393.85 on one car). Correct practice: DPV = VDP + customs duty + excise only.

Treating the CIF as the VDP without testing Section 113. CIF equals VDP only when there are no assists, royalties, selling commissions or post-importation costs. Missing an assist (e.g. a mould the buyer supplied to the foreign manufacturer free of charge) understates the VDP and every downstream charge. Correct practice: run the Section 113(1)/(3) checklist on every declaration.

Applying a preference to the value instead of the rate. Preference operates only at Step 4 (the rate). Some agents wrongly discount the VDP for "origin", corrupting the whole cascade. Correct practice: keep the VDP intact; substitute the preferential rate; let the saving cascade into the VAT base.

Claiming a preference without a valid certificate of origin. A SADC or COMESA rate is available only against a valid, properly completed certificate under the relevant protocol. ZIMRA will disallow the preference on a Yellow/Red lane, release against a deposit of the preferential margin under the Section 44 proviso, and the importer bears the onus of proving origin. Correct practice: secure the certificate before entry; never assume the preference.

Mis-keying the unit of quantity on a specific or compound duty. A US$3/Kg duty on 250 Kg is US$750; key the wrong weight and the specific component is wrong. Correct practice: take the weight from the packing list, not the invoice, and reconcile.

Choosing the wrong Customs Procedure Code (CPC). The CPC drives the duty treatment; a home-consumption CPC where a rebate or warehousing CPC was intended forfeits the relief, while the reverse claims relief the goods do not qualify for. Correct practice: select the CPC from the purpose of the importation, and confirm the rebate item exists in the Second Schedule.

Using a stale rate or exchange rate. Under Section 226 the rate is the rate in force on the later of importation or entry, and under Section 115A the conversion is at the customs rate for the fortnight of entry. Using last month's Tariff Notice or last fortnight's exchange rate produces a wrong figure. Correct practice: read the current Tariff Notice and the current fortnightly ZIMRA Rates of Exchange.

Under-declaring FOB / manipulated invoicing. The classic revenue offence — a suppressed price to shrink the whole cascade. Compound specific duties (the US$/Kg floor) partly defeat it, and Post-Clearance Audit under Section 223A reconstructs the true value from the importer's records. Correct practice: declare the price actually paid or payable; retain the evidence for six years (Section 223).

Forgetting that duty-free goods still bear import VAT. A 0% customs rate does not switch off Section 6(1)(b) VAT. Correct practice: always run Steps 7–8 even where duty is nil.

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.

• The amount payable at the border is not one tax but a stack of distinct charges — customs duty (Section 86), surtax (Section 97), excise (Section 95), import VAT (VAT Act Section 6(1)(b)) and ancillary levies — each with its own charging section, base and rate, computed in a fixed cascade.
• The cascade is FOB → +insurance +freight = CIF → Section 113 adjustments = VDP → customs duty (rate × VDP, less preference/rebate) → surtax → excise → DPV → import VAT → levies → total. Each step feeds the next, so an error early propagates everywhere.
• Classification fixes the rate; valuation fixes the base; origin fixes whether the rate can be reduced. This module orchestrates those three earlier modules and adds surtax, excise and import VAT.
• The decisive Zimbabwean rule is Section 12(2) of the VAT Act: the import-VAT base is VDP + customs duty + excise, excluding surtax. Surtax is paid but is not in the VAT base. The duty was added to the base on 1 January 2010; the surtax exclusion is constant.
• Preference and rebate operate only at Step 4 (the rate), never on the value, and their benefit cascades into a smaller VAT base — so a preference saves the duty and the VAT on that duty (the COMESA/SADC examples).
• Rates are period-specific: the customs tariff is SI 203 of 2022 (HS 2022); surtax is SI 112 of 2012 (25% general; 35% on second-hand 8703 vehicles over 5 years); the VAT standard rate is 15.5% from 1 January 2026. Under Section 226 apply the rate in force on the later of importation or entry (never below the importation rate), and under Section 115A convert foreign currency at the fortnightly ZIMRA customs rate.
• Duty-free is not charge-free: a 0% customs rate still attracts import VAT under Section 6(1)(b) on the DPV. Compound duties (ad valorem + specific per Kg) exist to defeat under-valuation. Section 114 keeps the value open to Post-Clearance Audit after release.
• In the bigger picture, this computation is where Zimbabwe's revenue strategy (the duty/VAT take), its industrial policy (protective surtax and excise), and its regional-integration commitments (SADC, COMESA, AfCFTA preferences) all meet a single trader's consignment — which is why both accuracy and policy literacy matter here.

Table 1 — The ten-step duty/tax cascade at a glance

Table 2 — Confirmed rates used in this lesson (read current editions before relying)

Table 3 — Section 113(2) freight & insurance deeming provisos

Diagram 1 — The clearance and computation flow in ASYCUDA World

flowchart TD
 A[Goods arrive at border or port] --> B[Classify under Section 87 and GRI - read rate from SI 203 of 2022]
 B --> C[Build value FOB to CIF to VDP under Section 113 and convert at Section 115A customs rate]
 C --> D[Select Customs Procedure Code in ASYCUDA]
 D --> E[Compute customs duty equals VDP times rate less preference or rebate]
 E --> F[Add surtax on listed lines and excise on excisable goods]
 F --> G[Assemble DPV equals VDP plus duty plus excise EXCLUDING surtax]
 G --> H[Compute import VAT equals DPV times 15.5 percent]
 H --> I{Risk targeting lane}
 I -->|Green| J[Release without intervention]
 I -->|Yellow| K[Document check]
 I -->|Red| L[Physical examination]
 K --> M[Officer adjusts assessment if needed]
 L --> M
 J --> N[Pay total to ZIMRA in USD where Section 115 applies]
 M --> N
 N --> O[Release goods - Section 114 value not final]
 O --> P[Retain records 6 years - PCA under Section 223A]

Diagram 2 — Decision tree: is this charge in the VAT base?

flowchart TD
 A[Charge computed in the cascade] --> B{Which charge}
 B -->|Customs value VDP| C[In the base]
 B -->|Customs duty| D[In the base - any duty under Section 12 2]
 B -->|Excise duty| E[In the base - any duty under Section 12 2]
 B -->|Surtax| F[NOT in the base - expressly excluded by Section 12 2]
 B -->|Other levy| G[Usually not - unless the levy law says so]
 C --> H[DPV equals VDP plus customs duty plus excise]
 D --> H
 E --> H
 H --> I[Import VAT equals DPV times 15.5 percent under Section 6 1 b]

Statutes and sections — Customs and Excise Act [Chapter 23:02] - Section 86 — charges customs duty on imported goods at the rates in the customs tariff (subject to Section 98). - Section 87 — classification of goods for customs purposes (fixes the rate); appeal to Commissioner / Fiscal Appeal Court. - Section 88–89 — origin of manufactured goods; specified-country content for lower (preferential) rates. - Section 90–93 — anti-dumping and countervailing duties (additional charges imposed by Gazette notice). - Section 95 — charges excise duty on goods manufactured or produced within Zimbabwe. - Section 96 — classification of goods for excise purposes. - Section 97 — charges surtax on goods imported into or manufactured/produced within Zimbabwe. - Section 98 — duties subject to agreements, suspensions, rebates, refunds, drawbacks, remissions, warehousing (integration clause). - Sections 104–116 (Part X) — value for duty purposes; Section 105 VDP; Section 106 transaction value; Section 113 valuation adjustments incl. the freight/insurance deeming provisos; Section 114 release not a final valuation; Section 115 foreign-currency dutiable items (payment in USD); Section 115A conversion at the customs exchange rate at entry; Section 116 value for excise/surtax on local manufacture (factory cost + 25% or selling price). - Section 172B / 172F — special excise duty on second-hand motor vehicles / on airtime. - Section 223 / 223A / 224 — six-year record retention; post-clearance audit; recovery of underpaid duty. - Section 225 — Minister imposes/amends customs, excise and surtax tariffs by statutory instrument (28-sitting-day / 6-month confirmation rule; separate Tariff Handbook volume deemed the SI). - Section 226 — rate applicable at the later of importation or entry for consumption (not below the importation rate); 6-month refund for conditional reliefs; excise rate on delivery from place of manufacture.

Statutes and sections — VAT Act [Chapter 23:12] - Section 6(1)(b) — charges VAT on the importation of any goods by any person, at the rate fixed by the Charging Act. - Section 12(1) — timing of import VAT (tied to Section 36 of the Customs Act / entry for home consumption). - Section 12(2) — import value = value for customs duty purposes plus any duty, excluding surtax (duty added to the base by Finance (No.3) Act 10 of 2009 w.e.f. 1 January 2010). - Section 12A — deferment of import VAT on capital goods (period extensions per 2024 amendments).

Regulations and Statutory Instruments - Customs and Excise General Regulations (2021) — reg 18 (entry on importation; simplified entry threshold); reg 24 (value declarations, Forms 52A/53A); reg 25 (certificates of origin for lower rates). - SI 203 of 2022 — Customs and Excise (Tariff) Notice, 2022 (HS 2022 Tariff Handbook), repealing SI 53 of 2017 — customs-duty rates and tariff lines relied on. - SI 112 of 2012 — Customs and Excise (Surtax Tariff) Notice, 2012 (amended by SI 193 of 2012 and SI 91 of 2015) — 25% general surtax; 35% on second-hand 8703 vehicles over 5 years. ** - SI 244 of 2000 — COMESA (Suspension) Regulations — duty wholly suspended for COMESA-originating goods (excludes excisable goods). - Charging Act / Finance Act — fixes the standard VAT rate (15.5% from 1 January 2026; 15% before).

Tariff Notice — lines cited - 6109.10.00 (40% + US$3/Kg); 6109.90.10 (10% + US$5/Kg); 6309.00.00 (US$5/Kg); 8703.21.20 (5%); 8703.21.90 (40%) — all per SI 203 of 2022.

International instruments - WCO Harmonized System (HS) Convention — basis of the Tariff Handbook and the rate. - WTO Valuation Agreement / GATT Article VII — the valuation hierarchy underlying Sections 104–116 and the VDP. - SADC Trade Protocol, Annex I (Rules of Origin) — preferential rate for SADC-originating goods (Step 4). - COMESA Treaty and Protocol on Rules of Origin — preferential treatment implemented domestically by SI 244 of 2000. - AfCFTA — phased preferential tariff treatment **.

Case law (persuasive, non-binding in Zimbabwe) - Secretary for Customs and Excise v Thomas Barlow & Sons Ltd 1970 (2) SA 660 (A) — three-stage classification enquiry (fixes the rate). ** - International Business Machines SA (Pty) Ltd v Commissioner for Customs and Excise 1985 (4) SA 852 (A) — classification by objective characteristics, not intended use. **

ZIMRA guidance - ZIMRA Rates of Exchange for Customs Purposes — fortnightly selling rates used for Section 115A conversion. - ASYCUDA World — Single Administrative Document, CPC list, and Green/Yellow/Red risk lanes used to capture, compute and route the assessment. - ZIMRA Public Notices on excise and special-surtax rates — current specific/ad valorem excise figures for fuel, alcohol, tobacco, airtime and motor vehicles.