ADM: ZIMBABWE NEEDS REVENUE — BUT NOT A TAX SYSTEM THAT PUNISHES ORDINARY PEOPLE

Zimbabweans are being asked to carry yet another burden in an economy where the ordinary citizen is already struggling to survive.

The introduction and enforcement of the 15% Presumptive Rental Income Tax on qualifying rental arrangements raises a fundamental question that government cannot avoid:

At what point does taxation stop being a tool for funding public services and become another instrument for squeezing citizens who are already at the limit?

ZIMRA says the tax, effective from 1 January 2026, applies to qualifying rental income from premises where tenants conduct trade, business or an occupation. It is calculated on gross rental income, with no deductions or allowances permitted under this presumptive regime. Purely residential premises are treated differently.

ADM believes that distinction must be understood.

But government must also understand something far more important:

Behind every rental agreement is a human being.

There is a landlord trying to maintain a property.

There is a tenant trying to keep a business alive.

There is a family trying to keep a roof over its head.

And there is a struggling economy in which businesses are already battling high operating costs, declining purchasing power, unemployment and an increasingly unbearable cost of living.

WHO WILL REALLY PAY THIS TAX?

Government may say the tax is imposed on rental income.

But economics does not operate in a vacuum.

When the cost of owning, maintaining and operating a property rises, landlords may respond by increasing rentals.

And when rentals rise, the tenant ultimately feels the pain.

A small shopkeeper may pay more rent.

A hairdresser may pay more rent.

A mechanic may pay more rent.

A small office may pay more rent.

A struggling entrepreneur may be forced to reduce employees, increase prices or close altogether.

That is how a tax imposed on one part of the economy can eventually find its way into the pockets of ordinary Zimbabweans.

The question therefore is not simply whether government can collect the money. The question is whether Zimbabwe’s already fragile economy can absorb another burden.

ZIMBABWEANS ARE NOT TAX MACHINES

ADM rejects the mentality that whenever government needs more money, the answer must automatically be another tax, another levy, another fee or another charge.

Where is the corresponding reduction in waste?

Where is the decisive fight against corruption?

Where is the accountability for public expenditure?

Where are the consequences for those who misuse public resources?

Where is the evidence that every dollar collected from struggling citizens is being converted into better hospitals, functioning schools, reliable water supplies, decent roads, employment and economic opportunities?

You cannot continuously squeeze citizens while failing to demonstrate value for the money already collected from them.

Zimbabwe needs revenue, yes.

But Zimbabwe also needs economic growth.

A government that continually expands taxation without expanding opportunity risks creating a vicious cycle:

Higher taxes → higher business costs → higher prices → lower consumer spending → weaker businesses → fewer jobs → greater poverty → more taxation.

That is not economic transformation.
That is economic suffocation.

WE MUST STOP TAXING OUR WAY OUT OF A GOVERNANCE FAILURE

ADM believes that Zimbabwe’s revenue problem cannot be solved simply by chasing more taxpayers.

The country must first address the enormous leakages created by corruption, inefficiency, wasteful expenditure and poor economic management.

Government must broaden the productive economy instead of continuously extracting more from the same struggling population.

We need policies that encourage:

Investment rather than discourage it;

Small businesses rather than suffocate them;

Affordable housing rather than make accommodation increasingly expensive;

Formal employment rather than expand unemployment;

Productive enterprises rather than endless taxation;

Accountability rather than secrecy;

Economic growth rather than economic survival.

LANDLORDS MUST COMPLY — BUT GOVERNMENT MUST ALSO BE FAIR

ADM is not calling on landlords to evade legitimate taxes.

Citizens and businesses must comply with the law.

But tax compliance must go hand in hand with fairness,
transparency and responsible governance.

The state cannot demand maximum compliance from citizens while giving minimum accountability to itself.

If government wants citizens to contribute more, citizens have the right to ask:

Where is our money going?

How much is being lost through corruption and waste?

How much is being recovered from those accused of abusing public resources?

What measurable improvement will taxpayers receive in return?

These are not unreasonable questions.

They are the questions of citizens who own their country.

ADM’S MESSAGE TO THE GOVERNMENT

Do not mistake a desperate population for an endless source of revenue.

Zimbabweans are already paying for fuel, food, electricity, transport, education, healthcare, licences, passports, rates and countless other costs.

Now the pressure is extending deeper into the property and rental economy.

Government cannot keep reaching into the pockets of citizens simply because those pockets still contain a few coins.

There must be a limit.

There must be compassion.

There must be economic sense.

And above all, there must be accountability.

OUR POSITION

The Action Democratic Movement calls for a comprehensive review of Zimbabwe’s taxation framework to ensure that it:

1. Protects low-income households and vulnerable citizens;
2. Does not unnecessarily increase the cost of doing business;
3. Prevents tax increases from being simply passed on to tenants and consumers;
4. Tackles tax evasion without criminalising genuine economic survival;
5. Closes corruption and public-finance leakages before demanding more from citizens;
6. Makes government expenditure transparent and accountable; and
7. Creates an economy where people can earn, invest, build businesses and prosper instead of merely surviving from one tax to the next.

Zimbabwe does not need a government that is exceptionally good at collecting from the poor.

Zimbabwe needs a government that is exceptionally good at creating wealth, jobs and opportunity.

The ultimate measure of a government is not how much money it can extract from its citizens.

It is how much dignity, prosperity, opportunity and security it can create for them.

Zimbabweans have been squeezed for too long.

The answer is not to squeeze harder.

The answer is to build an economy in which ordinary citizens can breathe again.

ACTION DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT (ADM)
ADM PRESIDENT
Alice Nyamande