The rate is the moment a capital gain becomes a capital gains tax. Everything else in the Capital Gains Tax Act [Chapter 23:01] — the charge (Section 6), the definitions (Section 8), the deductions (Section 11), the exemptions (Section 10) — builds the base; but the Act itself fixes no rate. By Section 7 of the CGT Act, the tax "shall be calculated in accordance with the Finance Act [Chapter 23:04] by reference to (a) the capital gains of the person ... and (b) the rate of capital gains tax fixed from time to time in that Act." This is the two-statute design seen across Zimbabwean tax: a permanent structural Act plus an annual charging Act (the Finance Act) that supplies the rate. The operative rate provisions are Finance Act Section 38 (the final CGT rate), Section 39 (the capital gains withholding tax rate), and Section 39A (which currency the tax is paid in and how the base is computed in that currency).

The single most important rule is the acquisition-date split in Finance Act Section 38. A specified asset acquired before 22 February 2019 is taxed at 5% of the gross capital amount (Section 38(a)) — a flat charge on the gross sale proceeds, with no deductions reducing it. A specified asset acquired on or after 22 February 2019 is taxed at 20% of the capital gain (Section 38(b)) — the net gain after the Section 11 deductions. The threshold date is 22 February 2019 (substituted by Finance Act 7/2021, backdated), and it is keyed to when the asset was acquired, not when it was sold. This is a correction of the older "1 February 2009" pointer: the source Finance Act confirms 22 February 2019.

Two further rate-relevant rules complete the picture. First, currency (Section 39A): where a gain arises in foreign currency (USD), the tax is paid in that currency (Section 39A(9)(b)), and the base is computed under the USD rules — only certain Section 11 deductions plus a 2½%-per-year allowance in lieu of the CPI inflation allowance (Section 39A(9a)); and, punitively, an asset acquired between 1 February 2009 and 22 February 2019 but disposed of after gets no deductions at all (Section 39A(10)), so the 20% bites on near-full proceeds. Second, the withholding rates (Section 39), which are an advance collection of CGT, not a separate tax: a listed marketable security is withheld at 1% of the price and that is final (reduced from 2% by Finance Act 7/2024); an unlisted/other marketable security at 5% of the price (provisional); and immovable property acquired after 22 February 2019 at a provisional rate reconciled to the final 20% of the gain (the source shows a "15% of price" chapeau with a USD subparagraph of 5% of gain provisional → 20% final — internally inconsistent and flagged).

Special and zero rates round out the schedule. VFEX-listed securities are fully exempt (Section 10(r), 0% effectively). And Section 30B of the CGT Act imposes a special capital gains tax on the transfer of a mining title at 20% of the value of the transaction (reduced to 5% where the relevant Minister's approval of the transfer is produced) — unusually, this rate sits in the CGT Act itself, not the Finance Act, and reaches offshore/indirect transfers of Zimbabwean mining rights.

For the practitioner, the rate question is really three questions in sequence: When was the asset acquired? (fixes 5%-of-gross vs 20%-of-gain), In what currency is the gain? (fixes the base and the payment currency), and Is collection by withholding final or provisional? (fixes whether a CGT 1 reconciliation is needed). This lesson builds on introductiontocapitalgains, calculationofcapitalgains, cgtdeductions, cgtwth and cgtintermediaries, and it is the rate engine those lessons feed into.

A tax has two halves: a base (the amount on which tax is charged) and a rate (the proportion taken). The Capital Gains Tax Act [Chapter 23:01] constructs the base with great care — it defines the gross capital amount (Section 8(1)(a)), removes exemptions to give the capital amount (Section 8(1)(b)), and subtracts deductions to give the capital gain (Section 8(1)(c)). But when you search the CGT Act for the percentage to apply, you will not find it. That is deliberate.

By Section 6 of the CGT Act, "there shall be charged, levied and collected ... a capital gains tax in respect of the capital gains ... received by or accrued to or in favour of any person during any year of assessment, other than a capital gain so received or accrued prior to the 1st August, 1981." Section 6 is the charging section — it imposes the tax and sets its temporal reach (gains from 1 August 1981, the CGT Act's commencement). But Section 6 does not state a rate. Section 7 then provides the link: the tax "shall be calculated in accordance with the Finance Act [Chapter 23:04]" by reference to the year's capital gains and "the rate of capital gains tax fixed from time to time in that Act."

This is the two-statute architecture of Zimbabwean taxation, identical to income tax (see itcfoundations and itcsources). The permanent Act (here the CGT Act) supplies the lasting machinery; the annual Finance Act supplies the rate, which Parliament can adjust each year. The constitutional reason matters: rates are the prerogative of Parliament, fixed only by an Act of Parliament, not by ministerial regulation. As the income-tax lessons noted, attempts to fix or raise tax rates by statutory instrument have been struck down as ultra vires (e.g. Mlilo, Gonese), and the CGT rate history below shows the same tension (the SI 96/2022 / SI 110/2024 saga).

The practical upshot for the student is fundamental: to find the CGT rate you read the Finance Act, not the CGT Act — with the single notable exception of the special mining-title CGT in Section 30B, whose rate Parliament wrote into the CGT Act itself. The rate is examinable precisely because it interlocks with the base: a 5%-of-gross rate makes deductions irrelevant, while a 20%-of-gain rate makes them decisive, so getting the rate right is a precondition to computing the tax at all.

CGT Act Sections 6 and 7 — charge and calculation-by-reference

• Section 6 (charge): imposes CGT on capital gains accruing to any person in a year of assessment, excluding gains accrued before 1 August 1981.
• Section 7 (calculation): "Subject to section twenty-one" (the principal-private-residence rollover, which can reduce the chargeable gain to nil — see saleofprincipalprivateresidenceppr), the tax is calculated in accordance with the Finance Act by reference to the year's capital gains and the rate fixed from time to time in that Act.

Finance Act Section 38 — the final CGT rates (the acquisition-date split)

Finance Act [Chapter 23:04] Section 38 has been substituted repeatedly (Act 5/2009; Finance (No.2) Act 7/2019; Finance Act 7/2021). As at the 27 May 2025 source, it provides that the CGT chargeable under Section 6 of the CGT Act is calculated:

• Section 38(a) — asset acquired before 22 February 2019: at the rate of 5% of the gross capital amount —
• (i) $0.05 per dollar of the gross capital amount for a Zimbabwean-currency gain (the Section 39A(9)(a) case);
• (ii) US$0.05 per United States dollar of the gross capital amount for a foreign-currency gain (the Section 39A(9)(b) case).
• Section 38(b) — asset acquired on or after 22 February 2019: at the rate of 20% of the capital gain —
• (i) $0.20 per dollar of the capital gain for a ZWL gain;
• (ii) US$0.20 per United States dollar of the capital gain for a USD gain.
• Section 38(b)(iii) was inserted by Finance Act 8/2022 and then repealed by the Finance Act 2024 (SI 110/2024) for a period of six months w.e.f. 28 June 2024. The source carries an editor's note that "the error in SI 110/2024 regarding the erroneous repealing of para (a)(iii) {which never existed} is now validated but not rectified."

The date threshold is 22 February 2019, keyed to the acquisition of the asset (substituted by Finance Act 7/2021, backdated to 22 February 2019). Earlier pointers to "1 February 2009" reflect a superseded position; the source confirms 22 February 2019. The history of the split date is itself instructive: 1 February 2009 → 21 August 2019 (Finance (No.2) Act 7/2019) → 22 February 2019 (Finance Act 7/2021, backdated).

Finance Act Section 39 — capital gains withholding tax (CGWT) rates

Section 39 fixes the rates of the capital gains withholding tax under Part IIIA of the CGT Act (the collect-at-source mechanism explained in cgtwth and cgtintermediaries). As at the source:

• (a) Listed marketable security: 1% of the sale price, and "the amount so withheld shall be considered to be the final tax." (Reduced from 2% by Finance Act 7/2024 w.e.f. 28 December 2024; a brief 2%-final window ran under SI 110/2024 from 28 June 2024.)
• (b) Immovable property acquired after 22 February 2019: "15% of the price at which the property was sold," elaborated as (i) a ZWL case provisionally withheld at $0.15 per dollar of the capital gain, subject to a final assessment at $0.20; and (ii) a USD case provisionally withheld at US$0.05 per US dollar of the capital gain, subject to a final assessment at US$0.20.
• (c) — substituted by SI 96/2022, held ultra vires, repealed by SI 110/2024 for six months, validated by the Finance Act 2024.
• (d) Other (unlisted) marketable security: 5% of the price at which the security was sold (provisional).

Finance Act Section 39A — currency of payment and currency-specific base

Section 39A (inserted by Act 3/2009) governs which currency the CGT is paid in and how the base is computed in that currency:

• 39A(1)–(2): where gains are received in foreign currency, the CGT is paid in that same foreign currency; where only part is in foreign currency, the two parts are computed separately and paid in their respective currencies.
• 39A(9): despite the "Zimbabwe dollar sole legal tender" rule, CGT transactions are not deemed to be wholly in ZWL — a ZWL gain is taxed under Section 38(a) in ZWL; a foreign-currency gain under Section 38(b) in foreign currency.
• 39A(9a): for a foreign-currency gain, the only Section 11 deductions allowed are (a), (b), (d), (e), (f) and (g), plus — in lieu of the CPI inflation allowance in Section 11(2)(c) — an allowance of 2½% per year of the purchase price (and 2½%/year of improvement cost) from acquisition (or improvement) to sale (with a Minister-prescribed ZWL→USD conversion formula). See cgtdeductions.
• 39A(10): for an asset acquired on or after 1 February 2009 but before 22 February 2019 and disposed of after that date, no Section 11 deductions are allowed at all — the 20% then falls on essentially the full proceeds.
• 39A(11): a purported ZWL sale is presumed to be a USD sale at market value unless the seller proves otherwise.

CGT Act Section 30B — the special CGT on mining-title transfers (rate in the CGT Act)

Uniquely, Section 30B of the CGT Act (inserted by Act 13/2023 w.e.f. 1 January 2024; subsection (3) substituted by Finance (No.2) Act 7/2024) imposes a special capital gains tax on the transfer of a mining title and fixes its own rate:

• Section 30B(5)(a): 20% of the value of the transaction, payable in United States dollars (or foreign-currency equivalent), by the transferee entity (or, failing it, the prior owner).
• Proviso (i): where the relevant mining law requires the Minister's approval of the transfer and such approval is produced to the Commissioner-General, the rate is reduced to 5% of the value of the transaction.
• Proviso (ii): if the mining title has ceased to subsist and an affidavit shows the extinction was not for tax-avoidance, no special CGT is payable.

Section 30B reaches transactions concluded within or outside Zimbabwe that transfer a mining title (defined to include a "share, stake, right or interest" in a mining title) since 31 December 2023, and it pierces nominees, beneficial owners and controllers (those with a binding voice, a veto, or 25%+ of the votes). It is being challenged by the Chamber of Mines as extraterritorial and retrospective. (See cgtspecifiedassets and cgtcrossborder for the base; this lesson supplies its rate.)

Two rates, two bases: 5%-of-gross versus 20%-of-gain

The defining feature of the Zimbabwean CGT rate is that the two rates apply to two different bases, and this changes the entire computation:

• 5% of the GROSS capital amount (pre-22 Feb 2019 assets, Section 38(a)). The base is the gross sale proceeds — before exemptions in the relevant sense and before deductions. So the Section 11 deductions are economically irrelevant: whether the taxpayer's cost was high or low, the tax is 5% of what the asset sold for. This is a gross, transactional, near-turnover charge. It was historically justified as a rough proxy in an era of hyperinflation and unreliable cost records — a small percentage of price is simpler to administer than a real-gain computation.
• 20% of the capital GAIN (post-22 Feb 2019 assets, Section 38(b)). The base is the net capital gain after the full Section 11 deduction process. Here deductions are decisive: every dollar of allowable cost, improvement, selling expense or inflation allowance reduces the tax by 20 cents. This is a true gains tax on real enrichment.

Because the rate is keyed to the acquisition date, two otherwise identical disposals in the same year can attract radically different tax. The student must therefore always begin a CGT computation by fixing the acquisition date before anything else.

The "dead zone": 1 February 2009 – 22 February 2019

Sitting between the two rate regimes is a punitive transitional window. Under Section 39A(10), an asset acquired on or after 1 February 2009 but before 22 February 2019 and disposed of after 22 February 2019 is taxed at 20% of the gain (because acquisition is "before 22 Feb 2019"? No — read carefully): the acquisition date is before 22 February 2019, so the rate under Section 38 is prima facie the 5%-of-gross rate of Section 38(a). However, Section 39A(10) independently denies all Section 11 deductions for assets in this acquisition window when disposed of after the rate-split.

Either way, the policy message is that the acquisition date is worth real money, and a disposal whose acquisition falls in this window must be checked against both Section 38 and Section 39A(10).

Withholding rates: final versus provisional

The withholding rates in Section 39 are not extra taxes; they are advance collection of the final CGT, credited back under Section 22J of the CGT Act (with refunds under Section 22I). The master distinction is final versus provisional:

• Listed marketable security — 1% of price, FINAL (Section 39(a)). The 1% withheld at the broker is the end of the matter: no CGT 1 return, no reconciliation, no top-up or refund. (Reduced from 2% by Finance Act 7/2024.)
• Unlisted/other marketable security — 5% of price, PROVISIONAL (Section 39(d)). The 5% is a proxy on price; the final liability is the Section 38 rate on the gain, reconciled on the CGT 1 (top-up or refund via Sections 22J/22I).
• Immovable property acquired after 22 February 2019 — PROVISIONAL (Section 39(b)). Withheld provisionally (see the flagged 15%-of-price / 5%-of-gain inconsistency), reconciled to the final 20% of the gain.

The reason a proxy on price must be reconciled to a charge on the gain is arithmetic: 1% or 5% of price will rarely equal 20% of gain, so all non-final cases run through the CGT 1 to true up.

Zero and special rates

• VFEX-listed securities — effectively 0%. Section 10(r) of the CGT Act (inserted by Act 8/2020 w.e.f. 1 August 2020) fully exempts gains on securities listed on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange; with no taxable gain there is no withholding (Section 22F(a)). This is a deliberate incentive contrasting with the ZSE'Section 1% final withholding.
• Special mining-title CGT — 20% (or 5% with ministerial approval). Section 30B(5)(a) charges 20% of the transaction value, dropping to 5% where the Minister's approval of the transfer is produced. Note the base is the transaction value (the gross deal value), not a Section 11 net gain — a gross charge, like the pre-2019 5% regime but at a higher headline rate.

All figures are illustrative; the rates and currency rules are grounded in Finance Act Sections 38, 39, 39A and CGT Act Section 30B.

Scenario 1 — Post-22 February 2019 USD immovable property (20% of the gain)

Chipo buys a shop in 2021 for USD 90,000, improves it for USD 30,000, sells it in 2026 for USD 250,000 with USD 12,000 selling costs. Acquired after 22 February 2019; USD gain → Section 38(b)(ii) (20%) with the Section 39A(9a) base.

Scenario 2 — Pre-22 February 2019 asset (5% of the gross)

Same shop, but acquired in 2014 (and assume it is not caught by the Section 39A(10) no-deduction rule — see Scenario 3), sold for USD 250,000. Rate: Section 38(a)(ii), 5% of gross.

The deductions do not appear — the charge is on gross proceeds. A taxpayer comparing Scenarios 1 and 2 sees that a pre-2019 asset can attract less tax (USD 12,500 vs USD 20,600) or more, depending on the size of the real gain; the regimes are not simply "one is cheaper."

Scenario 3 — The 1 Feb 2009 – 22 Feb 2019 dead zone (no deductions)

Farai bought land in 2015 for USD 60,000, sells in 2026 for USD 250,000. Acquisition is in the Section 39A(10) window and the disposal is after 22 February 2019.

Farai pays USD 50,000 — the harshest of the three outcomes, because Section 39A(10) strips every deduction and the 20% lands on the full price. (See the section C flag on the 5%-of-gross alternative reading.)

Scenario 4 — Listed shares: 1% final withholding

Rudo sells ZSE-listed shares for USD 40,000 through her broker. Under Section 39(a), the broker withholds 1% = USD 400, and that is the final tax. No CGT 1, no reconciliation. Had the shares been VFEX-listed, the gain would be exempt (Section 10(r)) and nothing withheld.

Scenario 5 — Unlisted shares: 5% provisional reconciled to 20% of gain

Tatenda sells unlisted shares (acquired 2020) for USD 200,000; his allowable base (cost + 2½%/yr) is USD 120,000.

• At sale: depositary withholds 5% of price = USD 10,000 (Section 39(d), provisional).
• On CGT 1: final CGT = 20% of the gain = 20% × (200,000 − 120,000) = 20% × 80,000 = USD 16,000.
• Reconciliation (Section 22J): USD 16,000 − USD 10,000 already withheld = USD 6,000 top-up payable. (Had the withholding exceeded the final tax, the excess would be refunded under Section 22I.)

Scenario 6 — Special mining-title CGT (Section 30B)

An offshore company transfers, in 2025, its 75% stake in a Zimbabwean mining entity (a "share, stake, right or interest" in a mining title) for USD 10,000,000.

• Default: 20% of transaction value = USD 2,000,000 (Section 30B(5)(a)), payable in USD by the transferee.
• With ministerial approval produced: the rate drops to 5% = USD 500,000 (proviso (i)).

This is a gross charge on transaction value (not a net-gain computation), reaching the transaction even though concluded outside Zimbabwe.

Large corporates / multinationals

For large taxpayers the rate analysis adds three layers: (i) mixed-currency deals are split under Section 39A(2) and each part taxed in its own currency at the Section 38 rate; (ii) group restructurings may avoid a rate event entirely by using the rollover reliefs (Sections 15–17), which defer the gain rather than taxing it now (see cgtcorporaterestructuring); and (iii) indirect transfers of mining interests trigger the Section 30B 20% special CGT even where the parties and the deal are offshore — a rate exposure that ordinary cross-border M&A models often miss (see cgtcrossborder).

• Sabeta M v Commissioner-General, ZIMRA 12-HH-079. ZIMRA may not refuse to assess and issue a CGT clearance certificate once the tax is paid — and the tax is the Section 38 rate applied to the correct base. The case ties the rate computation to the transfer-clearance gate (Section 30A).
• Old Mutual Zimbabwe Ltd v Commissioner-General, ZIMRA 16-HH-143. Proceeds within the gross capital amount are chargeable; "capital ≠ tax-free." The case confirms that the rate applies to a properly determined base, and that characterising a receipt as "capital" does not exempt it from the CGT rate.
• Commissioner of Taxes v C W (Pvt) Ltd 89-ZLR-361 and Ellis N.O. v COT 92-SC-001. The Section 10(c) loan-stock exemption removes the amount from charge entirely (a 0% outcome), illustrating that an exemption is a different mechanism from a rate — exempt amounts never reach Section 38.
• Sommer Ranching (Pvt) Ltd v COT 99-SC-065. Confirms the mutatis mutandis application of Income Tax Act machinery to CGT (Sections 7, 23, 24), the route by which "rate fixed in the Finance Act" is operationalised through assessment.
• The rate-instrument line — Mlilo v Minister of Finance 19-HH-605; Gonese I v Minister of Finance 22-HH-265. Though income-tax/levy cases, they establish the constitutional principle that tax rates belong to Parliament and cannot be fixed or raised by statutory instrument. This is precisely the controversy in the CGT withholding-rate history (SI 96/2022 ruled ultra vires; SI 110/2024 repeal; Finance Act 2024 validation), so the principle is directly relevant to how the CGT rates must be enacted.

Where the source rate provisions are internally inconsistent (the Section 39(b) "15% of price" vs "5% of gain"), there is no Zimbabwean case resolving the conflict; the matter is governed by the statutory text read with the Section 38 final rate, and the inconsistency is flagged rather than resolved by invention.

1. Using the wrong split date. The threshold is 22 February 2019, not "1 February 2009." The 2009 date survives only as the lower bound of the Section 39A(10) dead zone.
2. Applying the rate to the wrong base. Pre-22 Feb 2019 = 5% of GROSS; post-22 Feb 2019 = 20% of the GAIN. Applying 20% to gross, or 5% to the net gain, is a classic error.
3. Computing deductions for a 5%-of-gross asset. They do not reduce the tax; effort is wasted (Scenario 2).
4. Missing the Section 39A(10) dead zone. Assets acquired 1 Feb 2009 – 22 Feb 2019 can be taxed at 20% with no deductions — far harsher than either neighbouring regime.
5. Treating provisional withholding as final. Only listed-share 1% is final. Unlisted-share 5% and immovable-property withholding are provisional and must be reconciled on the CGT 1.
6. Forgetting the currency rules. A USD gain is taxed in USD at the USD subparagraph rate with the 2½%/year allowance (not the CPI allowance); a ZWL gain under Section 38(a)/(b)(i).
7. Overlooking VFEX exemption. VFEX-listed securities are fully exempt (0%), not merely lightly taxed.
8. Missing Section 30B on mining deals. Indirect/offshore transfers of mining title attract a 20% special CGT (5% with approval) under the CGT Act itself, regardless of where the deal is signed.
9. Quoting the disputed (b)(iii)/SI rates as settled law. The Section 38(b)(iii) and Section 39 SI history is unsettled; rely on the two core rates and flag the rest.

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 CGT Act fixes no rate. By Section 7, the rate comes from the Finance Act [Chapter 23:04] — the two-statute design that keeps rate-setting with Parliament.
• Acquisition date splits the rate (Finance Act Section 38): before 22 February 2019 → 5% of the GROSS capital amount (deductions irrelevant); on/after 22 February 2019 → 20% of the capital GAIN (deductions decisive). The threshold is 22 February 2019, not 1 February 2009.
• The 1 Feb 2009 – 22 Feb 2019 dead zone (Section 39A(10)) denies all Section 11 deductions, exposing such assets to 20% on near-full proceeds — the harshest outcome.
• Currency (Section 39A) dictates payment currency and base: USD gains use the 2½%/year allowance in lieu of CPI and only certain deductions; mixed deals are split and taxed separately.
• Withholding rates (Section 39) are advance collection, not extra tax: listed shares 1% = FINAL; unlisted shares 5% = provisional; post-2019 immovable property provisional → final 20% of gain (the source'Section 15%-of-price vs 5%-of-gain wording is flagged).
• Zero/special rates: VFEX securities fully exempt (0%); Section 30B special mining-title CGT = 20% of transaction value (5% with ministerial approval) — the lone rate inside the CGT Act, reaching offshore/indirect transfers.
• Policy insight: Zimbabwe runs a hybrid CGT rate system — a gross, low-percentage charge for older assets and mining deals (simple, hard to avoid) alongside a net, higher-percentage charge for newer assets (fairer to real gains) — and the practitioner's job is to identify, for each disposal, which regime, which currency, and whether collection is final or provisional.

Table 1 — The CGT rate schedule (Finance Act Sections 38, 39, 39A; CGT Act Section 30B)

Table 2 — Rate split date history (the moving threshold)

Diagram 1 — Determining the CGT rate on a disposal

flowchart TD
 A[Disposal of a specified asset] --> B{Mining title transfer under Section 30B?}
 B -->|Yes| C[Special CGT 20 percent of value; 5 percent if Minister approval produced]
 B -->|No| D{Gain exempt e.g. VFEX Section 10r?}
 D -->|Yes| E[0 percent exempt]
 D -->|No| F{Acquisition date?}
 F -->|Before 22 Feb 2019| G[5 percent of GROSS FA Section 38a]
 F -->|1 Feb 2009 to 22 Feb 2019| H[20 percent of gain with NO deductions Section 39A 10]
 F -->|On or after 22 Feb 2019| I[20 percent of the GAIN FA Section 38b]
 G --> J{Collected by withholding?}
 H --> J
 I --> J
 J -->|Listed share 1 percent| K[FINAL no CGT 1]
 J -->|Unlisted 5 percent or immovable provisional| L[Provisional reconcile on CGT 1 Section 22J or refund Section 22I]

Statutes & sections

• Capital Gains Tax Act [Chapter 23:01] — Section 6 (charge; gains from 1 Aug 1981); Section 7 (calculation "in accordance with the Finance Act ... by reference to the rate ... fixed from time to time," subject to Section 21 PPR rollover); Section 8(1) (gross capital amount / capital amount / capital gain — the bases the rates apply to); Section 10(r) (VFEX-listed securities fully exempt, Act 8/2020); Section 22B/22J/22I (withholding charge, credit, refund — Part IIIA); Section 30B (special CGT on transfer of mining title: 20% of transaction value, 5% with ministerial approval, USD; reaches offshore/indirect transfers; inserted Act 13/2023, Section 30B(3) substituted FA(No.2) 7/2024).
• Finance Act [Chapter 23:04] — Section 38 (final CGT rates: 5% of gross for assets acquired before 22 Feb 2019 (Section 38(a), ZWL (i)/USD (ii)); 20% of the gain for assets acquired on/after 22 Feb 2019 (Section 38(b), ZWL (i)/USD (ii)); Section 38(b)(iii) inserted FA 8/2022, repealed FA 2024/SI 110/2024 — status unsettled; threshold 22 Feb 2019 per FA 7/2021 backdated); Section 39 (CGWT rates: (a) listed security 1% final, reduced from 2% by FA 7/2024; (b) immovable property acquired after 22 Feb 2019 provisional → final 20% of gain; (c) ultra vires SI 96/2022 → SI 110/2024 → validated FA 2024; (d) other/unlisted security 5% provisional); Section 39A (currency of payment and base: (9) ZWL vs foreign-currency split; (9a) USD gains — only Section 11(2)(a),(b),(d),(e),(f),(g) + 2½%/yr in lieu of CPI; (10) no deductions for assets acquired 1 Feb 2009 – 22 Feb 2019; (11) purported-ZWL presumed USD).
• Income Tax Act [Chapter 23:06] — machinery imported into CGT mutatis mutandis (CGT Sections 7, 23, 24) by which the Finance Act rate is operationalised through assessment.

Case law

• Sabeta M v Commissioner-General, ZIMRA 12-HH-079 — tax (at the Section 38 rate on the correct base) once paid, clearance certificate must issue.
• Old Mutual Zimbabwe Ltd v Commissioner-General, ZIMRA 16-HH-143 — rate applies to a properly determined base; "capital ≠ tax-free."
• Commissioner of Taxes v C W (Pvt) Ltd 89-ZLR-361; Ellis N.O. v COT 92-SC-001 — Section 10(c) exemption (0% outcome) distinguished from a rate.
• Sommer Ranching (Pvt) Ltd v COT 99-SC-065 — ITA machinery applies mutatis mutandis to CGT.
• Mlilo v Minister of Finance 19-HH-605; Gonese I v Minister of Finance 22-HH-265 — tax rates belong to Parliament, not statutory instruments (directly relevant to the CGT withholding-rate SI saga).

ZIMRA guidance

• Comprehensive Guide to Form CGT 1 — ZIMRA External Guide — the return reconciling provisional withholding to the final Section 38 rate.
• Comprehensive Guide to the Special CGT Return — ZIMRA External Guide — the return for the Section 30B special mining-title CGT.