The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) issued Public Notice 06 of 2026 on 19 January 2026 to advise all taxpayers of the filing and payment deadlines applicable to the month ending 31 January 2026. The notice is issued in terms of Statutory Instrument 81 of 2025 and applies to the same nine categories of tax as the January 2026 deadlines notice, now covering the first full reporting period of the 2026 tax year.
Deadlines at a Glance
For the January 2026 tax period, the following return submission and payment deadlines apply to all taxpayers in each relevant category:
| Tax Type | Return Due Date | Payment Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| Pay As You Earn (PAYE) | 5 February 2026 | 10 February 2026 |
| Withholding Taxes | 5 February 2026 | 10 February 2026 |
| Mining Royalties | 5 February 2026 | 10 February 2026 |
| Value Chain Withholding Tax | 5 February 2026 | 10 February 2026 |
| Presumptive Tax Return | 5 February 2026 | 10 February 2026 |
| Bookmakers Tax | 5 February 2026 | 10 February 2026 |
| Fast Foods Tax | 5 February 2026 | 10 February 2026 |
| Plastic Carrier Bag Tax | 5 February 2026 | 10 February 2026 |
| Punters Withholding Tax | 5 February 2026 | 10 February 2026 |
All nine tax types share the same critical dates: returns due by 5 February 2026 and remittances due by 10 February 2026. These are firm deadlines under SI 81 of 2025, and penalties and interest apply immediately where either is missed without a valid legal basis for deferral.
How to Submit Returns
All returns must be submitted online through the TaRMS Self-Service Portal (SSP) at mytaxselfservice.zimra.co.zw. No alternative submission method — including paper filing, emailing returns, or submitting in person at a ZIMRA office — is accepted for the tax types listed in this notice. Taxpayers who have not yet established their TaRMS SSP access must do so as early as possible, as systems access requests require processing time.
The return is considered submitted only when the system generates a submission confirmation reference number. A return that has been completed but not formally submitted remains a draft and does not satisfy the compliance obligation. Taxpayers should save this confirmation reference for their records in case of any later query from ZIMRA.
PAYE Return Submission
Employers are required to submit the long PAYE return on TaRMS in accordance with Public Notice No. 05 of 2025 issued on 3 February 2025. The long return format requires disaggregated employee-level data to be uploaded as a structured file. Employers who have not yet set up the required file format should access ZIMRA's guidance material, available through the ZIMRA website under the domestic taxes download section.
January 2026 is the first full PAYE return period of the new tax year. Employers who made changes to payroll in January — including new hires, salary adjustments, or changed tax codes following the 2026 Finance Act changes — must ensure that these changes are correctly reflected in the return before submission.
Mining Royalties
Mining royalties remain payable in both cash and in kind, and must be declared using the Withholding Taxes Return. Mining operators must ensure that both components are accounted for in the January 2026 return and that the corresponding payment or in-kind arrangement is completed by 10 February 2026. ZIMRA monitors both the cash and in-kind streams and any shortfall in either may result in an assessment for the undeclared amount plus penalties and interest.
Payment Process
Tax payments are made to ZIMRA through linked bank accounts by cash deposit or electronic transfer. The bank validates each payment against the taxpayer's Tax Identification Number (TIN) before crediting ZIMRA's account. The TIN must be correctly entered at the time of payment — an incorrect TIN will cause the payment to fail or to be misallocated.
TaRMS bank payment forms require only the taxpayer's name and TIN as mandatory fields. The taxpayer does not need to indicate the specific tax type or period being settled at the banking stage, as this allocation is managed through the return filing process. However, the return must be submitted in order for ZIMRA's system to post the payment to the taxpayer's ledger. Without a corresponding return, the funds sit unallocated in ZIMRA's bank account and the tax obligation is not discharged.
Taxpayers are therefore advised to file their return before or at the time of payment, or to follow up payment with immediate return submission. Relying on payment alone — without a filed return — will result in the ledger continuing to show an outstanding liability, which may trigger automated penalty computations and unnecessary follow-up contact from ZIMRA.
Outstanding Returns and Overdue Payments
Taxpayers who have not yet submitted returns for prior periods are reminded that those obligations remain outstanding and continue to attract late submission penalties on a rolling basis. Those in arrears on payments are required to settle overdue amounts without further delay. Continued non-compliance beyond the deadlines set out in this notice may result in ZIMRA taking legal action, including estimated assessments, garnishee orders, and prosecution under the relevant revenue laws.
Taxpayers who are unable to pay their full tax liability by the deadline are encouraged to contact ZIMRA to discuss a payment arrangement. An agreed arrangement can reduce the risk of escalated enforcement action, though interest will continue to accrue on any unpaid amount throughout the arrangement period.
NB: All taxpayers must submit their returns and make payments in full on or before the due dates. Failure to comply will result in penalties and/or prosecution.