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M&J Consultants · Lusaka · 2026 edition
A free 58 page guide to ZRA in plain English, with worked examples in real kwacha. Written from the 2025 amendment Acts, because a good deal of what is still published online, including ZRA's own tax information page, is out of date.
Free PDF, ready to download on the next page. Written for owners, directors and finance leads.
Why this matters now
Two amendment Acts drive most of 2026: Act No. 10 of 2025, which created the Minimum Alternative Tax, and Act No. 17 of 2025, which came into operation on 1 January 2026. Here is what they did.
New section 14A charges 1% of total turnover, whatever your profit. There is no carve out for loss making companies, start ups, first year entities, banks or mining companies. Only turnover tax payers, presumptive tax payers and railway sector special purpose vehicles sit outside it. The director's instinct that a loss year is a no tax year is now wrong in Zambia.
Since 1 January 2025 a VAT registered customer cannot claim input VAT on an invoice that did not go through Smart Invoice. As at May 2026 ZRA had referred seven taxpayers for prosecution for wilful non use, and had said publicly that of the 44,110 businesses registered, registration figures do not reflect actual usage. The businesses most at risk are the ones that registered, issued a handful of invoices, then quietly went back to their old system.
The VAT threshold is K800,000 in any twelve months, or K200,000 in any three. The turnover tax ceiling is K5 million. Between them sits a wide band of ordinary Zambian businesses that must run both regimes at once: 5% of turnover by the 14th, and a VAT return by the 18th. If you were told that being on turnover tax means VAT does not apply to you, that stopped being true when the ceiling moved.
From 1 January 2026 the bands are 0% up to K30,000, 4% from K30,000 to K800,000 and 16% above K800,000. The nil floor more than doubled from K12,000, which helps small landlords. The top rate went from 12.5% to 16%, which does not. It is charged on gross rent, with no deduction for interest, rates, insurance, repairs or agent commission.
New section 91A says a penalty shall not be imposed where you voluntarily disclose an omission, error or mistake before ZRA finds it through an audit or in any other manner. This is no longer a temporary amnesty window. Alongside it, the late payment penalty in section 78 fell to 0.5% of the unpaid tax for each month or part month, down from 5%.
What is inside
Every chapter answers the same four questions in the same order: does this apply to me, how much do I pay, when do I file and pay, and do I need Smart Invoice.
A worked example from chapter two
Lusaka Foods turns over K10 million. A bad year on input costs leaves it with taxable income of K120,000. Under the old rules that is a small tax bill. Under section 14A it is not, because the Minimum Alternative Tax is charged on turnover rather than on profit.
Every calculation in the guide is laid out this way, working from the top line down to the amount actually payable, with the rate stated on the line so you can substitute your own numbers without hunting back through the text.
| Total turnover | K10,000,000 |
|---|---|
| Taxable income after a bad year on inputs | K120,000 |
| Normal income tax, 30% of K120,000 | K36,000 |
| Minimum Alternative Tax, 1% of turnover | K100,000 |
| Tax actually borne, the greater of the two | K100,000 |
The K36,000 of income tax is covered by the MAT credit. The extra K64,000 is a real cost this year, carried forward as a credit against income tax for up to five charge years. Stay marginal for six years and the credit expires unused.
Who it is for
The most expensive misunderstanding in Zambian business is assuming that one transaction attracts one tax. A single commercial rent invoice can carry rental income tax and VAT, on two returns with two deadlines. Work through every row, not just the first.
Who wrote it
We are a multi disciplinary consultancy working with businesses across Zambia, Zimbabwe and the wider region: tax advisory and filing, accounting and company secretarial, payroll and HR, and enterprise software. Over a decade in practice, more than 500 clients served.
We wrote this guide because the working position is genuinely hard to pin down. Zambian tax information ages badly, and a good deal of what ranks well online is one or two budgets behind.
Where a ZRA web page conflicts with the Act, the guide follows the Act and says so. A dozen points that are genuinely unsettled on the public record are listed together at the back, rather than papered over with a confident answer.
Before you fill it in
Yes. The 58 page PDF is free. There is no payment, no card and no trial. The first conversation with us afterwards is also free and carries no obligation. To be exact about the rest: a tax health check, and any remediation, filing or advisory work that follows it, is a paid engagement, quoted upfront before anything starts.
It is a few more questions than most download forms, and there is a reason for each one. The guide covers twelve tax types and most businesses only need three or four of them, so your structure, industry, size and current position tell us which chapters actually apply to you. Your role and your say in decisions tell us whether to write to you or to whoever signs things off. And the last question asks whether you would like us to call at all. Tick no thanks and we send the guide and stop there.
No. It is general educational information, current as at 18 August 2026. It is not tax, legal or accounting advice and it does not create a client relationship. Zambian tax legislation changes frequently, including mid year, and the correct treatment of any transaction depends on its specific facts. Confirm the current position with ZRA or a qualified adviser before acting.
The legislation, first. The Income Tax (Amendment) Act No. 10 of 2025 and the Income Tax (Amendment) (No. 2) Act No. 17 of 2025, together with the Property Transfer Tax (Amendment) Act No. 21 of 2025, the Betting Levy Act No. 27 of 2025 and the Customs and Excise (Amendment) Act No. 11 of 2025, read against current ZRA guidance and the major professional summaries. Where a ZRA web page conflicts with the Act, the guide follows the Act and says so on the page.
They go to M&J Consultants in Lusaka, and we use them to send you the guide and to follow up on what you asked for. We do not sell, rent or share your details with anyone else. Ask us and we delete them. Our privacy page sets out the full position.
Free PDF, current to 18 August 2026. Read the two chapters that apply to you and ignore the rest.
Send me the guidePrefer to talk first? Call +260 630 372 410 or message us on WhatsApp at +260 762 496 519.