Semesters & Required Returns

In 2022, there were two semesters – January to July and August to December. Zimra are expecting an ITF-16 return for each semester and for each tax table used – i.e. ZWL & USD. This is quite simple to understand for those clients that have single currency payrolls – you would simply need to submit 1 return for each semester for a total of 2 returns.   For those more complicated payrolls with variations of currencies it could mean up to 4 total returns.

For those with more complex and changing payrolls (period-to-period), and multi-currency payrolls this is actually slightly different to how it was handled last year.

Each Period is viewed separately

Each period that you create when doing your payroll is taxed depending on what currency the employees gross income is given.

Payroll Type (applied to each individual pay period)
ZWL Only, No US$ – ZWL Tax Tables,            ZWL ITF16 needed
US$ only, No ZWL – US Tax Tables,                USD ITF16 needed
Both Currencies – US Tax Tables,                     USD ITF16 needed

You must look at each of the periods you have and this will determine what your required returns are.

If you have a payroll that keeps its type throughout the year, you only need to submit the one return.  However, in the event that you have mixed and matched, you must submit returns based on how you mixed and matched.  This is summarised in the table below:

Note that this table below is just looking at a single semester – you will need to evaluate your payroll for both semesters.