@newzimbabwean: Zimbabwe's taxman just had a record run. Four point seven billion dollars, in six months. Almost fifty percent more than last year. How do you squeeze that much from people with so little? It starts with a deal worth zero dollars. An IMF Staff-Monitored Program. No loan. Just a test. Pass, and Zimbabwe gets a shot at clearing over eight billion dollars in arrears. Zimbabwe sat this exam in 2019, right after a new two percent tax on electronic payments. Then VAT hit fifteen percent. A sugar tax. A fast-food tax. Taxes on kombis, even hair salons. This year, VAT rose again. The government's case: pay your debts, or stay locked out. But look at who sits across the table. In 1894, a British company taxed every African hut here. By 1930, the law reserved about half the land for white settlers. Today, Zimbabwe has promised three and a half billion dollars to former white farmers. One study found Africa sends out forty-one billion dollars more than it receives, in a single year. And Britain has never paid reparations for colonising Zimbabwe. So what's at stake? For the state: credibility, and lenders. For you: every swipe, every loaf, every kombi ride. Debts matter. But why are only Africa's debts ever counted? 🇿🇼 📚 SOURCES • ZIMRA net collections, H1 2026: US$4.71bn, up 46.7% on H1 2025 (allafrica.com/stories/202610010402.html) • IMF Press Release 26/032 (Feb 2026) and 26/122 (Apr 2026): Zimbabwe's 10-month, non-financing Staff-Monitored Program (imf.org) • Zimbabwe Treasury, Quarterly Public Debt Report Q1 2026: external arrears and penalties ≈ US$8.2bn (zimtreasury.co.zw) • 2% IMTT on electronic payments: Statutory Instrument 205 of 2018 (Oct 2018) • VAT raised to 15% (2023), then to 15.5% in the 2026 National Budget (allafrica.com/stories/202511280037.html) • Sugar tax, 0.5% fast-food tax and presumptive taxes on kombis, taxis and salons: Zimbabwe National Budgets 2023–2026 • Britain, Germany and France are among Zimbabwes largest Paris Club creditors (insiderzim.com) • Hut tax of 10 shillings per hut, Mashonaland, 1894, collected by the British South Africa Company • Land Apportionment Act, 1930: about half the land set aside for European settlers • Global Compensation Deed (2020): US$3.5bn to former white commercial farmers • Honest Accounts 2017 (Global Justice Now et al.): Africas net outflow of US$41.3bn (2015 data)

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Friday 06 November 2026 07:03:19 GMT