Mthuli Ncube Refuses To Scrap Controversial 2% IMTT Tax
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has outright defied the ruling ZANU PF party, refusing to remove the 2% IMTT tax on USD transactions in the new 2026 National Budget presented at the New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden. The minister directly contradicted a key resolution from ZANU PF’s annual conference, confirming the unpopular 2 percent tax is here to stay.
A Budgetary Rebuke To Party Demands
Despite intense pressure from citizens, businesses, and his own political party, Professor Mthuli Ncube has doubled down on the Intermediated Money Transfer Tax (IMTT). The Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion made his position unequivocally clear during his budget speech on 27 November 2025. While offering a small concession on local currency transactions, he held the line on US dollar payments.
Professor Mthuli Ncube stated the new policy during his budget speech:
“Review of Intermediated Money Transfer Tax from 2% to 1.5% in order to promote use of local currency and lower transaction costs. IMTT on foreign currency transactions will be maintained at 2%.”
This announcement directly defies a resolution passed by ZANU PF at its conference in Mutare on 18 October 2025. The party resolved to “drop the 2% transaction tax (IMTT).” The minister’s refusal to comply signals a rift between the country’s fiscal authority and its ruling political machinery.
The Minister’s Lifeline Tax
Minister Ncube has consistently defended the IMTT as a non-negotiable source of government revenue. His stance was made clear weeks before the budget during a pre-budget engagement with Members of Parliament in Bulawayo on 5 November 2025. According to Nick Mangwana, the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Information, who posted on X, Ncube left no room for doubt about the tax’s importance. Mangwana quoted the Minister as saying:
“IMTT has kept us going.”
Further reporting on that same date detailed the minister’s stark warning to lawmakers. He presented them with a difficult choice, framing the tax as essential for keeping the government afloat.
“Removing the tax would leave a revenue gap that could only be filled by making what would be another unpopular move: raising VAT.”
The minister has previously revealed that the IMTT accounted for a significant portion of national revenue, constituting around 8% of total tax collections by the end of 2024. This revenue, running into billions of Zimbabwe dollars (ZWL), funds critical infrastructure and social programmes, making its sudden removal a fiscal risk the Treasury is unwilling to take.
A Political Storm Brews
The stage is now set for a confrontation. ZANU PF’s public demand, made at its highest party platform, has been openly ignored by its own finance minister. The Mutare resolution was a clear directive to the government it controls, and Ncube’s budget response is a clear act of defiance.
The tax remains deeply unpopular with the public, who see it as an added burden on every transaction, but the minister appears to be prioritising the state’s balance sheet over political consensus.
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The post Mthuli Ncube Defies ZANU PF, Refuses To Remove 2 Percent IMTT Tax For USD Transactions appeared first on iHarare News.
