HARARE – Zimbabwe’s controversial “mansion tax” has been shelved after a loud public backlash, fuelling doubts about whether the cash-strapped government can ever implement the levy without alienating urban homeowners already reeling from economic mismanagement.
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube introduced the wealth tax in the 2025 national budget, proposing a one-percent annual levy on properties valued at US$100,000 or more.
After an outcry, he revised the plan to apply only to second homes worth at least US$250,000, capping the payment at US$50,000 for properties above US$5 million. Government claimed the proceeds would be ring-fenced for collapsing city services such as water, sewer systems, roads and clinics.
Deputy finance minister Kuda Mnangagwa admitted in Parliament last week that the tax, though passed into law, “has been temporarily shelved pending conclusion of requisite administration modalities informed by the concerns raised by some stakeholders.”
The admission drew immediate fire from opposition legislators, who questioned the wisdom of the policy altogether. Emakhandeni-Luveve MP Discent Bajila asked: “Given that there are no legislative instruments for collecting this wealth tax, would it not be better to consider scrapping it altogether?”
Critics say the so-called mansion tax unfairly targets city dwellers—many of whom built homes on land allocated under government land reform—while the politically connected elite continue to dodge their tax obligations. For now, the levy remains in limbo, another sign, opposition figures argue, of a government that lurches from headline-grabbing announcements to hasty retreats when confronted by public resistance.
