A significant share of Harare's residential property market is driven by Zimbabweans in the UK, South Africa, Australia, and the US. The 2026 National Budget and Finance Act No. 7 of 2025 introduced rules that directly affect how diaspora buyers purchase, hold, and earn from property in Zimbabwe. Most of these changes are not yet reflected in general property guides.
Zimbabweans abroad can legally buy and hold property in Zimbabwe. There are no citizenship-based restrictions on property ownership, and the purchase process follows the same conveyancing procedure as a local buyer. What has changed in 2026 is the tax and compliance landscape around holding and earning from that property. Three new provisions from the Finance Act (No. 7) of 2025 apply directly to diaspora investors and are absent from most guides written before December 2025.
| Change | What It Means for Diaspora Investors |
|---|---|
| Presumptive Rental Income Tax (15% on gross commercial rent) | If your tenant runs a business from your property, 15% of every rent payment now goes to ZIMRA before you receive anything |
| Section 30C Special CGT (20% on land-holding entity share transfers) | Buying through a company no longer avoids transfer costs. The loophole is closed. |
| VAT increase (15% to 15.5%) | Developer-led purchases now cost 0.5% more than before; affects new development buyers specifically |
The presumptive rental income tax is the change with the largest effect on diaspora investors' actual cash returns. It is covered in detail below. For a quick overview of all the transfer costs and the calculations, the transfer costs reference guide covers that, and features an interactive calculator so you can structure your offer accordingly.
Zimbabwean citizens living abroad have full legal standing to purchase freehold property in Zimbabwe. There is no additional approval required by virtue of non-residency.
Non-Zimbabwean foreign nationals can also purchase freehold residential and commercial property. The restrictions apply to communal land (which cannot be privately owned), agricultural land under existing land reform frameworks, and any property designated under government schemes. For the suburban Harare properties that most diaspora buyers target, there are no nationality-based ownership restrictions.
The purchase must be financed through foreign currency brought in through authorised channels. The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe both require that funds for a property purchase arrive via a Nostro Foreign Currency Account (Nostro FCA) at an authorised dealer bank.
All property transactions in Zimbabwe are conducted in United States dollars. The purchase price, deposit, conveyancing fees, stamp duty, and all other costs must be paid in USD, and those funds must arrive in the country through the formal banking system.
The correct payment path for a diaspora buyer is:
Wire transfers from a UK, South African, Australian, or US bank account directly to a conveyancer's trust account in Zimbabwe are acceptable if the conveyancer's account is a USD-denominated nostro account at an authorised dealer bank. Confirm this with your conveyancer before initiating any transfer.
Diaspora Mortgages
CBZ Bank offers foreign-denominated diaspora mortgages specifically for Zimbabweans abroad purchasing property, building, or undertaking renovations including solar installations, security systems, and borehole drilling. The mortgage is structured in USD and repayment comes from foreign income. This is the only formally structured product of its kind from a major Zimbabwean bank with publicly available terms.
Steward Bank's diaspora current account holders are eligible for mortgages, loans, and credit cards subject to standard credit assessment. Contact diasporabanking@stewardbank.co.zw for current terms.
For SI 76 compliance: if the seller's title deed has not yet been validated and digitised under the Deeds Registries (General) Regulations 2025 (gazetted 18 July 2025), the compliance deadline of 18 July 2027 means this obligation will fall on you as the new owner. Allocate the responsibility and approximate USD 200 cost explicitly in the sale agreement before signing. For a detailed SI 76 validation and deadline, see our guide to deed types in zimbabwe.
The tax treatment of your rental income depends on what your tenant does on the premises. This is the most important distinction diaspora investors are currently missing.
Rental income from purely residential tenants is subject to the standard non-resident withholding tax of 15% on gross rent. This is not new in 2026. It has been the applicable rate for non-resident landlords under the Income Tax Act for several years. The withholding is typically deducted by the tenant or estate agent and remitted to ZIMRA.
Your estate agent or property manager in Zimbabwe is a statutory agent for this purpose and is legally required to deduct this tax before disbursing rental income to you. If they are not doing this, they are non-compliant and you bear the liability.
The Finance Act (No. 7) of 2025 introduced a Presumptive Rental Income Tax of 15% on gross commercial rental income, effective 1 January 2026. This applies when the tenant is conducting trade, business, or an occupation on the premises.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Rate | 15% of gross rent received |
| Applies to | All rent from tenants conducting business, trade, or occupation |
| Does not apply to | Purely residential tenancies |
| Deductions permitted | None. No expenses, no depreciation, no allowances |
| Tax treatment | Final tax. No further income tax on this rental income |
| Who withholds | Tenant deducts from rent before paying you; or estate agent before disbursing to you |
| Return deadline | Filed by the 5th of the following month |
| Payment deadline | Paid to ZIMRA by the 10th of the following month |
| Penalty for non-payment | 100% of unpaid tax plus interest |
| ZIMRA enforcement | Building can be temporarily closed if owner fails to maintain a proper tenant register |
The word "gross" is the operative word. On a commercial rental of USD 1,500 per month, ZIMRA takes USD 225 before you see anything. Your net receipt is USD 1,275. This is not a deduction you can plan around through expense claims. There are no permitted deductions.
This tax does not replace VAT. Where VAT applies to a commercial rental (i.e., the landlord is VAT-registered), VAT continues to apply at 15.5% on top of the rental amount.
The tenant protection clause: A compliant tenant whose landlord fails to arrange withholding can pay the 15% directly to ZIMRA. This shields the tenant from eviction for a period of three months. A diaspora landlord who is not registered and not compliant could find their tenant paying ZIMRA directly and gaining temporary eviction protection. This is a significant enforcement mechanism aimed at exactly the diaspora absentee-landlord profile.
ZIMRA's Public Notice 08 of 2026 on the Presumptive Rental Income Tax includes a specific provision for non-resident landlords: non-resident registrable proprietors are required to appoint a resident representative in Zimbabwe.
A resident representative is a person physically based in Zimbabwe who is authorised to act on your behalf for ZIMRA compliance purposes. This person ensures that returns are filed by the 5th of the month, payments are remitted by the 10th, and the tenant register is maintained properly. Your estate agent or property manager can fulfil this role if they have a formal mandate from you, and most estate agents in the market already operate as statutory agents under the tax. But the obligation to ensure a resident representative is in place rests with you, not with your agent.
A diaspora investor who buys a commercially-tenanted property in Harare, takes the rental income offshore, and does not register with ZIMRA or appoint a resident representative is fully exposed to ZIMRA enforcement. The 100% penalty on unpaid tax would mean ZIMRA recovers not just the 15% owed but double that amount in penalties, plus interest, on every month of non-compliance.
Buying is administratively simpler than selling, from a currency perspective.
When you sell a Zimbabwean property, the proceeds are paid in USD into your Nostro FCA in Zimbabwe. Getting those funds out of Zimbabwe requires compliance with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's Exchange Control regulations. The RBZ Exchange Control Act and the Foreign Exchange Guidelines require that applications for capital transfers abroad, which include disinvestment proceeds from property sales, be submitted to the Exchange Control Review Committee (ECRC).
This is not a routine matter of sending a wire transfer. It is a formal application process that requires documentation of the original investment, proof of tax clearance (the CGT5 from ZIMRA), and evidence that the funds represent genuine disinvestment rather than resident-account transfers.
The practical guidance from advisors operating in this market is to engage a Zimbabwean tax lawyer or registered tax practitioner before selling, and well before you need the proceeds offshore, to manage the ECRC process. Timelines vary. Do not assume that receiving USD into your Nostro FCA is the same as having USD available in your UK or South African account.
Zimbabwe has double taxation agreements with South Africa, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. In the context of property investment, these treaties are most relevant to withholding tax on dividends and interest from company structures, not to rental income from immovable property. Under standard DTA principles, rental income from property located in Zimbabwe is taxed in Zimbabwe, not in the investor's country of residence. The DTA prevents double taxation on the same income, meaning the 15% withheld in Zimbabwe may be creditable against your tax liability in your country of residence, but this depends on the specific treaty and the domestic rules of your resident country.
UK residents: HMRC's guidance on foreign rental income confirms that rental income from overseas property must be declared on a UK self-assessment return. The tax withheld in Zimbabwe may be claimed as foreign tax credit, subject to limits. Confirm the current credit calculation with a UK accountant who handles overseas property income.
South African residents: SARS taxes South African tax residents on worldwide income. Rental income from a Zimbabwean property must be declared in South Africa. The Zimbabwe-South Africa DTA governs how double taxation is relieved. South Africa has no presumptive rental tax; income is assessed on a net basis.
Most diaspora buyers cannot physically inspect properties before committing. The following checks cannot be delegated to the seller's agent or to trust.
The single highest-risk variable in a diaspora property purchase is agent verification. The ZRP Fraud Division recorded 140 land sale fraud cases in Harare in 2025, many of which involved buyers who paid deposits to agents operating without EAC registration. Diaspora buyers, transacting remotely and under time pressure, are the most frequent targets of these schemes.
Before any other step, confirm that the agent handling the property is registered with the Estate Agents Council of Zimbabwe. Then search available listings on Propertyzone, which indexes properties exclusively through EAC-registered agencies, so the registration check is built into the platform rather than something you need to verify separately.
