By Staff Reporter
Harare – Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube unveiled a series of new taxes on Thursday, including a “fast food fat tax,” levies on betting winnings, and stricter tax compliance measures for small businesses, as the government seeks innovative ways to boost revenue amid fiscal challenges.
In his 2025 national budget statement, Ncube announced a 10 percent withholding tax on gross winnings from sports betting, effective January 1, 2025.
“Honourable Members would be aware that betting is popular in nature, as indicated by the proliferation of sports betting houses countrywide,” Ncube said.
He added: “Sports betting punters receive income from winnings, which is currently not taxable under personal income tax.
“To include punters in the tax base, I propose to introduce a 10 percent withholding tax on gross winnings of sports betting punters, with effect from January 1, 2025.”
Ncube introduced a 0.5 percent tax on the sales value of fast food products, effective January 1, 2025.
The targeted items include pizza, burgers, hot dogs, shawarma, French fries, fried chicken, doughnuts, tacos, and similar highly processed foods.
The move is part of the government’s broader strategy to promote healthy living and curb obesity and related non-communicable diseases.
“Highly processed food has been identified as one of the factors responsible for the prevalence of obesity and associated non-communicable diseases, hence, the need for government to promote responsible consumption of such foods,” Ncube told lawmakers.
Acknowledging concerns from manufacturers, Ncube announced a revision of the special surtax on the sugar content of beverages.
While the tax on ready-to-drink beverages remains unchanged, the surtax on cordials will be reduced from US$0.001 per gram of sugar to US$0.0005 per gram, effective January 1, 2025.
Manufacturers had argued that the concentrated nature of cordials resulted in disproportionately higher tax rates compared to ready-to-drink beverages.
The 2025 budget is a clear signal of the government’s intent to broaden the tax base and increase compliance, though critics argue the measures will further burden struggling businesses and citizens.
