Itctrustsestates

Almost every tax you have studied so far falls on income — amounts received by or accrued to a living person (itcgrossincome), the profits of a company (itccorporate), the gain on selling a specified asset (the Capital Gains Tax lessons). Estate duty is different in kind. It is a capital tax, and it falls not on income and not during life, but on the transmission of a person's property on death. When someone dies, the wealth they leave behind passes to their heirs; estate duty takes a slice of that wealth as it devolves. It is, in plain terms, Zimbabwe's inheritance tax.

Estate duty is charged under its own statute — the Estate Duty Act [Chapter 23:03] — while the rate and the tax-free threshold are set, as with the other heads of tax, by the Finance Act [Chapter 23:04] (Schedule to Chapter VI). The current settings are clear and, unusually for Zimbabwe, stable: estate duty is charged at a flat 5%, and only the value of a dutiable estate above US$100,000 is taxed — the first US$100,000 is a general abatement (introduced by Finance Act 7 of 2021, with effect from 1 January 2022). On top of that threshold, everything a deceased leaves to a surviving spouse is deductible in full, so a well-planned estate that passes to a spouse can defer duty entirely until the second death.

The computation is a build-down: start with the gross estate (all the deceased's property, plus certain deemed property such as life-insurance proceeds on the deceased's life), subtract the allowable deductions (debts, funeral and last-illness expenses, the costs of administering the estate), subtract the spouse abatement, subtract the general abatement of US$100,000, and apply 5% to what remains. The executor of the estate — working under the supervision of the Master of the High Court — is the person who accounts to ZIMRA and pays the duty out of the estate before the residue is distributed to the heirs.

This lesson explains what property is caught (including the crucial deemed-property rules that stop people emptying their estates before death), how the estate is valued (with the special rules for immovable property, unquoted shares, businesses and limited interests), which deductions and abatements apply, how the duty is computed, administered and paid, how estate duty interacts with income tax on the estate's income, with capital gains tax and with transfer/stamp duty, and the planning and pitfalls every adviser should know. Because the rate and threshold here are verified against the current Finance Act and TaxTami's own estate-duty calculator, this lesson carries far fewer verification flags than most — but the boundary questions (scope over non-residents, the treatment of specific assets) are flagged where the Act itself must be checked.

Every tax system must decide whether, and how, to tax accumulated wealth — not just the income that flows each year, but the stock of assets a person builds up over a lifetime. Income tax reaches the flow; a death duty reaches the stock, once, as it changes hands at the end of life. Zimbabwe's answer is estate duty: a modest, flat charge on the wealth transmitted on death.

Three ideas explain why such a tax exists and why it is designed the way it is:

1. A one-off charge on transmission, not on holding. Estate duty is not an annual wealth tax on the living (that is a different instrument — see the note on the separate wealth tax below). It bites only once, at death, on the act of transmission. A person can hold property for fifty years without estate duty; the duty arises the moment that property devolves on their heirs.

2. A capital tax, distinct from income tax on the estate. This is the single most common confusion in practice, so fix it now. When a person dies, two entirely separate things can be taxed: - the income the estate continues to earn during administration (rent, interest, dividends) — that is income tax on the deceased/estate, taught in Taxation of Trusts and Deceased Estates (itctrustsestates); and - the capital value of the estate transmitted — that is estate duty, taught here. The estate can therefore face income tax on what it earns and estate duty on what it is worth — two different taxes, two different bases, one death.

3. Progressivity through a threshold, moderation through a low rate. Zimbabwe achieves a degree of fairness not through graduated rates but through a flat 5% rate applied above a US$100,000 abatement. Small and modest estates — the family home and savings of an ordinary household — often fall below the threshold and pay nothing. Only wealth above US$100,000 is touched, and even then only at 5%. The design is deliberately light: enough to tax the transmission of substantial wealth, not so much as to force the break-up of family assets to pay it.

Estate duty therefore sits at the boundary of the income-tax syllabus — a distinct head of tax that a Zimbabwean tax practitioner must understand because estates are where income tax, capital gains tax, transfer duty and estate duty all meet at once. A single death can trigger: income tax on the estate's income, capital gains tax on specified assets that change hands, transfer/stamp duty on immovable property registered to heirs, and estate duty on the value transmitted. Advising an estate well means seeing all four charges at once and sequencing them.

As with the other heads of tax, the charging code and the rate live in different statutes:

(i) The charging statute — Estate Duty Act [Chapter 23:03]. This Act is the self-contained code for the tax. It defines: - the estate that is dutiable (property of the deceased, plus deemed property); - the valuation rules (fair market value at the date of death, with special rules for particular assets); - the deductions and abatements allowed; - the administration — who accounts (the executor), how and when the duty is paid, interest on late payment, and the assessment machinery; - the anti-avoidance provisions (the deemed-property rules).

(ii) The rate and threshold — Finance Act [Chapter 23:04], Schedule to Chapter VI. The amount of the charge is set in the Finance Act: - the rate of estate duty — a flat 5% (the maximum rate under the Schedule to Chapter VI); - the general abatement — US$100,000 (or the ZWL/ZiG equivalent). Only the value of the dutiable estate above US$100,000 is charged. This threshold was substituted by Finance Act 7 of 2021, with effect from 1 January 2022 (Schedule to Chapter VI, para 6E proviso (ii)).

The division of labour is the familiar one: the Estate Duty Act tells you what is taxed and how the machinery works; the Finance Act tells you how much. As always, the rate and threshold are the parts most likely to move — but here they have been stable at 5% / US$100,000 since 1 January 2022, which is itself a useful teaching and marketing point: this is one corner of Zimbabwean tax that has not shifted every budget.

Note also the place of estate duty in the map of the statute book. As Sources and Interpretation of Zimbabwean Tax Law (itcsources) explains, the Finance Act is organised into chapters by head of tax: Chapter I (income tax and Taxes-Act taxes), Chapter VI (estate duty), Chapter VII (mining royalties, duty and fees), Chapter VIII (capital gains tax), and so on. Estate duty is the Chapter VI head — a self-standing charge with its own principal Act, sitting alongside income tax rather than inside it.

[!gap] The Estate Duty Act [Chapter 23:03] itself is not in the ACTS 27 MAY source folder — only the Finance Act (which carries the Chapter VI estate-duty rate). Confirm the deemed-property list, the scope over non-residents, and the deduction detail against the consolidated Estate Duty Act before publication.

The whole of estate duty can be understood as a five-step build-down from everything a person owned to the slice the State takes. This section explains each layer, then the valuation rules, the scope, the administration and the planning.

1. The gross estate — property of the deceased. The starting point is all the property of the deceased at the date of death, valued at fair market value. This includes: - Immovable property — the family home, land, commercial buildings situated in Zimbabwe. - Movable property — vehicles, furniture, equipment, livestock, personal effects. - Financial assets — bank balances, shares and other securities (quoted and unquoted), loans owed to the deceased, business interests, cryptocurrency and other rights of value. - Rights — anything of value the deceased was entitled to at death.

2. Plus deemed property — the anti-avoidance heart of the tax. If estate duty caught only what a person legally owned at death, it would be trivial to avoid: give everything away on your deathbed, or route your wealth through a life-insurance policy paid to a nominee, and the estate would be empty. To prevent this, the Act treats certain property as deemed to be part of the estate even though it does not pass under the will in the ordinary way. The principal categories are: - Proceeds of life-insurance policies on the life of the deceased — the payout is generally brought into the estate even though it is paid directly to a beneficiary/nominee (with limited statutory exceptions, e.g. certain policies ceded for value or funding buy-and-sell agreements). - Donations made in contemplation of death (donationes mortis causa) — gifts conditional on the donor's death. - Property the deceased was competent to dispose of immediately before death — arrangements under which the deceased retained the power to deal with property as if it were their own. - Accruals under certain settlements, trusts and joint arrangements — where the substance is that value passes on death.

The deemed-property rules are what give estate duty its bite; without them the tax would be optional. They are also where most disputes arise (Section E).

[!gap] Verify the exact statutory list of deemed property and the insurance-policy exceptions against the Estate Duty Act before advising; these provisions are technical and have been amended.

3. Less allowable deductions. From the gross estate (real + deemed) the Act allows the liabilities and costs that reduce what actually passes to heirs: - Debts due by the deceased at death — mortgages and bonds registered over estate property, bank loans, accounts payable, and (importantly) outstanding taxes the deceased owed (income tax, VAT, CGT). - Funeral expenses and last-illness / deathbed expenses, within the limits the Act allows. - Costs of administering the estate — the executor's remuneration, Master's fees, valuation and conveyancing costs, advertising, and other proper administration expenses. - Certain bequests to charitable, religious, educational or public-benefit bodies and to the State — exempt transmissions that come out of the dutiable estate. The logic is that estate duty should fall on the net wealth transmitted, not on gross assets encumbered by debt and the costs of winding up.

4. Less the spouse abatement. This is the most powerful relief in the Act: property accruing to a surviving spouse is deductible in full. Whatever the deceased leaves to their husband or wife — the home, the investments, the business — comes out of the dutiable estate entirely. The policy is that duty should not fall on wealth simply moving between spouses; it is deferred until that wealth passes on the second death. A couple who structure their affairs so that the first-dying spouse leaves everything to the survivor can therefore postpone all estate duty to the second estate.

5. Less the general abatement (US$100,000), then apply 5%. After debts, costs and the spouse abatement, the remaining value is reduced by the general abatement of US$100,000. Only the excess over US$100,000 is the dutiable estate, and estate duty is that dutiable amount × 5%.

Valuation — the detail that decides the number

Everything is taken at fair market value at the date of death — what the property would fetch between a willing buyer and a willing seller at arm's length on that date. The general standard is simple; the application to particular assets is where practitioners earn their fee:

• Immovable property — a professional valuation as at the date of death; a registered bond is deducted as a debt, not netted against the value.
• Quoted shares and securities — market price at the date of death.
• Unquoted / private-company shares — no market price exists, so a valuation is required (net-asset or earnings basis), which is a frequent point of dispute with ZIMRA. The value of the underlying business drives the share value.
• A business or sole-trader interest — valued as a going concern (assets, goodwill, work-in-progress) less its liabilities.
• Limited interests — a usufruct, a fiduciary or life interest, or an annuity is valued actuarially by reference to the value of the underlying property and the life expectancy of the person entitled; the "bare dominium" and the "usufruct" are valued separately where they pass to different people.
• Livestock, plant and personal effects — market/second-hand value.
• Foreign-currency and offshore assets — converted at the appropriate rate; whether they fall into the Zimbabwean estate at all depends on the scope rules below.

Because valuation drives the whole charge, date-of-death valuations from qualified valuers are the norm for immovable property, businesses and unquoted shares.

Scope — whose property, and where

As a general matter, the estate of a person who was ordinarily resident or domiciled in Zimbabwe is charged on their property (with the situs and worldwide-movable rules the Act prescribes), while a non-resident's estate is charged on their Zimbabwe-situated property only (typically immovable property in Zimbabwe and assets located here). Where the same asset could be taxed by two countries (a Zimbabwean-domiciled person with foreign property, or a foreign estate with Zimbabwean assets), any double-death-duty relief the law provides must be considered. The precise scope and situs rules must be read from the Act.

[!gap] Confirm the exact residence/domicile and situs scope (worldwide vs Zimbabwe-only property) and any double-duty relief against the Estate Duty Act; this determines whether foreign assets of a Zimbabwean-domiciled deceased are included.

Administration and payment — who does what, and when

Estate duty does not assess itself. It rides on the estate-administration process supervised by the Master of the High Court:

1. Death and reporting. The death is reported to the Master, who appoints an executor (named in the will, or appointed where there is no will) and issues letters of administration/executorship.
2. Gathering and valuing. The executor collects the assets, identifies debts and deemed property, and obtains date-of-death valuations.
3. The account. The executor prepares a liquidation and distribution account (and an estate-duty account/return) showing the gross estate, deemed property, deductions, the spouse and general abatements, and the dutiable estate.
4. Assessment and payment. ZIMRA assesses the estate duty on the dutiable estate at 5%. The executor pays the duty out of the estate — typically before the residue is distributed. Interest runs on duty paid late, and there are penalties for default.
5. Distribution. Once debts, the duty and the costs are settled and the account is confirmed by the Master, the residue is distributed to the heirs.

The practical rule for the executor is stark: do not distribute the estate before the duty (and estate debts) are paid. An executor who hands out the assets and leaves the duty unpaid can be personally liable.

Estate-duty planning — legitimate, and expected

Because the rules are clear, so is the planning. The main legitimate levers are: - The spouse abatement. Leaving assets to a surviving spouse defers all duty to the second death — the foundation of most estate planning. - The US$100,000 general abatement. Modest estates fall below it entirely; splitting wealth across spouses can use two abatements over two deaths. - Life cover to fund the duty. Because policy proceeds are deemed property (they do not escape duty), the sensible use of life insurance is to provide liquidity to pay the duty and debts so heirs are not forced to sell the family home or business. - A valid, well-drafted will. Dying intestate removes control over who receives what (and hence over the spouse abatement); a clear will is itself a planning tool. - Business-succession structuring — buy-and-sell agreements funded by insurance, so a business interest passes smoothly and the duty is funded.

What planning cannot do is empty the estate through nominations, deathbed gifts or retained-control arrangements — the deemed-property rules pull those straight back in, and aggressive schemes meet the same substance-over-form scrutiny as any other avoidance.

Interaction with the wider system

• Income tax on the estate. The estate's income during administration is taxed separately (itctrustsestates).
• Capital gains tax. The transmission or later sale of a specified asset (immovable property, marketable securities) can raise CGT — check whether death is a disposal, a roll-over or an exemption for the asset in question.
• Transfer / stamp duty. Registering estate immovable property into the names of heirs attracts transfer/stamp duty (a separate charge — see the Stamp Duty lesson).
• Outstanding taxes as debts. Any income tax, VAT or CGT the deceased owed is a deductible debt — and must be paid.

The rate (5%) and general abatement (US$100,000) used below are the verified current settings (Finance Act, Schedule to Chapter VI; abatement per FA 7/2021 w.e.f. 1 Jan 2022). Asset values are illustrative.

Example 1 — A straightforward estate, no surviving spouse. The late Mr Moyo, a widower, leaves: - House (Harare): US$380,000 - Vehicle and household goods: US$40,000 - Bank and investments: US$120,000 - Gross estate: US$540,000

Deductions: outstanding mortgage US$60,000; funeral US$8,000; administration/executor costs US$22,000 → US$90,000. - Net estate = 540,000 − 90,000 = US$450,000; no spouse abatement. - Less general abatement: 450,000 − 100,000 = US$350,000 dutiable - Estate duty = 350,000 × 5% = US$17,500, payable by the executor before distribution to the children.

Example 2 — The power of the spouse abatement. The late Mrs Chuma leaves a net estate of US$550,000 (after US$50,000 debts/costs). Her will leaves the home (US$300,000) and half the investments (US$100,000) to her surviving husband; the remainder to the children. - Spouse property = 300,000 + 100,000 = US$400,000 → deductible in full. - After spouse abatement: 550,000 − 400,000 = 150,000; less US$100,000 = US$50,000 dutiable → duty US$2,500. - Contrast: the same estate left entirely to the children → 550,000 − 100,000 = 450,000 dutiable → US$22,500. The spouse bequest saved US$20,000, deferred to the husband's later estate.

Example 3 — An estate below the threshold (nil duty). The late Mr Ncube leaves a net estate of US$85,000 (modest house and savings), no spouse. - 85,000 is below the US$100,000 abatement → dutiable estate nil; duty US$0. - The estate is still reported and administered through the Master and ZIMRA — nil duty is not "nothing to do." Most ordinary-household estates land here.

Example 4 — Deemed property: a life-insurance payout. The late Ms Dube's own assets net to US$70,000; she also held a US$250,000 policy on her own life paid to a nominated brother. - Policy proceeds are deemed property: gross (real + deemed) = 70,000 + 250,000 = US$320,000; less US$20,000 debts/costs = 300,000; no spouse. - Less abatement: 300,000 − 100,000 = US$200,000 dutiable → duty US$10,000. - Lesson: routing wealth through a life policy does not escape estate duty — the deemed-property rule pulls it in. Use insurance to fund the duty, not to dodge it.

Example 5 — A non-resident with Zimbabwean property. A non-resident, domiciled abroad, dies owning a Victoria Falls holiday property (US$400,000) plus assets in their home country. - Only the Zimbabwe-situated property is within Zimbabwean estate duty; the foreign assets are outside scope. - Zimbabwe dutiable base: (400,000 − 100,000) = US$300,000 → duty US$15,000 on the Zimbabwean property; the foreign estate is dealt with abroad. **

Example 6 — A farming estate with a bond. The late Mr Sibanda leaves a farm valued at US$700,000 subject to a registered bond of US$150,000, plus livestock US$120,000 and equipment US$60,000; no other assets. He leaves everything to his adult children (no spouse). - Gross estate = 700,000 + 120,000 + 60,000 = US$880,000. - Deductions: bond US$150,000; funeral US$7,000; administration US$33,000 → US$190,000. - Net = 880,000 − 190,000 = US$690,000; less US$100,000 = US$590,000 dutiable → duty US$29,500. - Liquidity trap: the estate is asset-rich but cash-poor. Without cash or life cover, the executor may have to sell livestock or land to fund US$29,500 of duty plus costs — the classic argument for insurance-funded succession.

Example 7 — An estate with unquoted company shares. The late Mrs Phiri owned 100% of a private trading company. There is no market price; a date-of-death valuation puts the shares at US$900,000 (net-asset plus goodwill). She leaves 40% of the shares to her husband and 60% to a business partner's family. - Spouse portion = 40% × 900,000 = US$360,000 → deductible in full. - Assume other assets net to US$40,000 and debts/costs are already in the US$900,000 valuation basis. - Estate for duty = (900,000 + 40,000) − 360,000 (spouse) = 580,000; less US$100,000 = US$480,000 dutiable → duty US$24,000. - Dispute risk: the US$900,000 unquoted-share valuation is exactly the figure ZIMRA is most likely to challenge; a defensible professional valuation is essential.

Example 8 — A limited interest (usufruct). The late Mr Gumbo's will leaves his wife a usufruct (lifetime right to use and income) over a property worth US$300,000, with the bare dominium passing to the children. - The property is split for duty: the usufruct (valued actuarially on the wife's life expectancy) accrues to the surviving spouse and is deductible in full; the bare dominium (US$300,000 less the usufruct value) passes to the children and is dutiable. - If the usufruct is actuarially valued at, say, US$120,000, the children's bare dominium is US$180,000; after the US$100,000 abatement (assuming this is the only asset) → US$80,000 dutiable → duty US$4,000. **

Estate-duty litigation in Zimbabwe is not voluminous, but the disputes that arise are instructive and cluster around a few themes:

• What falls into the estate (deemed property). The most argued questions are whether a particular receipt — a life-policy payout, an accrual under a trust or nomination, property over which the deceased retained a power — is deemed property. Courts read the deemed-property provisions purposively, alert to their anti-avoidance purpose: the point of the rules is to stop the estate being emptied, so arrangements that leave the deceased with effective control or benefit tend to be pulled back in.
• Valuation. Because the charge is on fair market value at death, disputes turn on the valuation of illiquid assets — unquoted company shares, farms, businesses, and limited interests (usufructs, annuities). The principle is an arm's-length, willing-buyer/willing-seller value at the date of death, supported by professional valuation and, for limited interests, the actuarial tables.
• The spouse abatement and what "accrues to a surviving spouse" means. Questions arise on whether property genuinely passes to the spouse (and so qualifies for the full deduction) or passes to others through the spouse.

Two anchoring principles: - Substance over form in the deemed-property rules. As with the general anti-avoidance thinking in Tax Avoidance and GAAR, estate-duty avoidance schemes that dress up a transmission as something else are tested on substance. - Estate duty is a distinct code. It is read as a self-contained statute; income-tax concepts (gross income, deductions) do not carry across. The estate's income is an income-tax matter; the estate's value on transmission is the estate-duty matter, and the two must not be blended.

[!gap] If a specific Zimbabwean estate-duty decision is to be cited (e.g. on deemed property or unquoted-share valuation), source and verify it against ZimLII / Veritas before publication.

1. Confusing estate duty with income tax on the estate. Income tax on the estate's income (rent, interest) is separate from estate duty on the estate's capital value — see itctrustsestates. The estate can face both.
2. Forgetting deemed property. Advisers routinely miss life-insurance proceeds and other deemed property, understating the estate. The policy payout to a nominee is generally in the estate.
3. Missing the spouse-abatement planning. Leaving assets to the surviving spouse defers all duty to the second death — the single biggest planning lever, and it is often overlooked in poorly drafted wills.
4. Applying 5% to the whole estate. Duty is 5% of the dutiable estate — after debts, costs, the spouse abatement and the US$100,000 general abatement — not 5% of the gross estate.
5. Assuming small estates need do nothing. Even an estate below US$100,000 (nil duty) must still be reported and administered through the Master and ZIMRA.
6. Netting a bond against the property. A registered bond is deducted as a debt of the estate; the property is brought in at full value and the debt subtracted separately (the result is the same, but the account must show it correctly).
7. Under-valuing unquoted shares or a business. The valuation of private-company shares is the number ZIMRA most often challenges — get a defensible date-of-death valuation.
8. Ignoring the CGT / transfer-duty interaction. Transmission or later sale of estate assets can raise capital gains tax and transfer/stamp duty — estate duty is not the only charge.
9. Valuing at the wrong date. Assets are valued at fair market value at the date of death, not at acquisition cost and not at distribution.
10. Treating foreign assets casually. Whether a Zimbabwean-domiciled deceased's foreign property is included depends on the Act's scope rules.
11. Distributing before the duty is paid. The executor must settle estate duty and debts before distributing the residue; premature distribution can leave the executor personally exposed.
12. Using an outdated threshold. The US$100,000 abatement dates from FA 7/2021 (1 Jan 2022); confirm it is current for the date of death.
13. Assuming a separate donations/gift tax exists. Zimbabwe taxes deathbed gifts through the deemed-property rules, not a standalone gift-tax statute.
14. Overlooking the liquidity problem. Asset-rich, cash-poor estates (farms, businesses) can be forced into fire-sales to pay the duty — plan the funding, usually with life cover.

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.

• Estate duty is a capital tax on the transmission of property on death — Zimbabwe's inheritance tax — distinct from income tax on the estate's income.
• Charging Act: Estate Duty Act [Chapter 23:03]; rate and threshold: Finance Act, Schedule to Chapter VI.
• Verified settings: a flat 5% on the value of the dutiable estate above US$100,000 (general abatement, FA 7/2021, w.e.f. 1 Jan 2022) — stable since 2022.
• Compute by build-down: gross estate (incl. deemed property) − deductions − spouse abatement − US$100,000, × 5%.
• Deemed property (esp. life-insurance proceeds) is the anti-avoidance engine — you cannot escape duty by routing wealth around the will.
• The spouse abatement (full deduction) is the key planning lever — it defers duty to the second death.
• Valuation (especially of unquoted shares, businesses and limited interests) decides the number and is the main dispute risk.
• The executor pays the duty from the estate, under the Master of the High Court, before distributing; even nil-duty estates must be reported.
• Watch the CGT and transfer-duty interactions, plan the liquidity (usually with life cover), and confirm the threshold is current for the date of death.

Estate duty at a glance

The five-step computation

Valuation quick guide

Estate duty vs income tax on a deceased estate

Computation flow

flowchart TD
 A[Gross estate at fair market value] --> B[Add deemed property: life policies, donationes mortis causa, retained-power property]
 B --> C[Less debts incl. taxes, funeral and last-illness, administration costs, exempt bequests]
 C --> D[Less spouse abatement: property to surviving spouse - in full]
 D --> E[Less general abatement US$100,000]
 E --> F{Dutiable estate > 0?}
 F -->|No| G[No estate duty - estate still reported and administered]
 F -->|Yes| H[Estate duty = dutiable estate x 5%]
 H --> I[Executor pays duty from estate before distributing residue]

Statutes & sections

• Estate Duty Act [Chapter 23:03] — the charging code: dutiable estate, deemed property, valuation, deductions and abatements, administration and anti-avoidance.
• Finance Act [Chapter 23:04] — Schedule to Chapter VI: estate-duty rate (5%) and general abatement (US$100,000); abatement substituted by Finance Act 7 of 2021 (para 6E proviso (ii)), w.e.f. 1 January 2022.
• Income Tax Act [Chapter 23:06] — taxation of deceased-estate income (contrasted; see itctrustsestates).
• Capital Gains Tax Act [Chapter 23:01] and transfer/stamp-duty legislation — parallel charges on transmission/sale of estate assets.
• Administration of Estates Act and the Master of the High Court — the estate-administration framework.

Case law

• Disputes concern deemed property, valuation (especially unquoted shares and limited interests), and the spouse abatement. **

ZIMRA guidance

• ZIMRA estate-duty guidance and forms; the Master of the High Court estate-administration process.
• TaxTami Estate Duty Calculator (encodes the 5% rate and US$100,000 abatement build-down).

Related TaxTami lessons

• itctrustsestates — Taxation of Trusts and Deceased Estates (income tax on the estate — the boundary)
• itcgrossincome — Gross Income (the income-tax base, contrasted)
• calculationofcapitalgains / CGT lessons — the CGT interaction on estate assets
• itcsources — where estate duty sits in the Zimbabwean statute map (Finance Act Chapter VI)

Verification flags raised in this lesson

• The deemed-property list and the life-insurance exceptions against the Estate Duty Act [Chapter 23:03] (the Act is not in the current source folder).
• The residence/domicile and situs scope — whether a Zimbabwean-domiciled deceased's foreign property is included — and any double-death-duty relief.
• The detailed deduction rules (limits on funeral/last-illness expenses; specific exempt bequests) and the actuarial tables for limited interests.
• That the 5% rate and US$100,000 abatement remain current for the date of death being administered.
• Lesson number L35 and slug itcestateduty against the live Income Tax module index (estate duty is a boundary head of tax and may warrant its own module code).
• A citable Zimbabwean estate-duty case, if one is to be named.