Introduction
Zimbabwe’s beverages manufacturing giant, Delta Corporation, has lost its Constitutional Court challenge against additional tax assessments by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) amounting to USD 75 million on July 8, 2025.
This leaves the company facing a ballooned tax bill of USD 329 million. Below is a timeline of the intriguing case.
DELTA vs ZIMRA Dispute Timeline
- November 17, 2021: ZIMRA notifies Delta of its intention to audit its self-assessed tax returns for the period January 1, 2019, to October 2021. These pertained to VAT returns from January 1 to December 31 and income tax from January 2019 and September 30, 2021. The returns were paid in Zimbabwe dollars. The audit was to determine if the returns were made in the currency of trade.
- 24 November 2021: Delta refuses tax audit, arguing that Section 23 of the Finance Act No. 2 of 2019 made local currency the sole legal tender. The company further argued Section 4A of the Finance Act (Chapter 23:04), requiring payment in foreign currency, had been overridden.
- 11 June 2022: After a tax audit, ZIMRA informs Delta that discrepancies had been found in its tax payments, involving VAT and income tax received or accrued to it in foreign currency. ZIMRA also found that Delta had received sales in foreign currency during April 2020 to March 2021 and April to December 2019. ZIMRA issued amended tax liabilities with penalties of 20% of the net payable tax.
- 13 June 2023: Delta files a High Court Application challenging the additional tax assessments by ZIMRA.
- 25 October 2023: High Court rules that the law that made local currency the sole legal tender had exemptions where specific foreign currency payments were mandated by law.
- 9 July 2024: Supreme Court rules against Delta with costs in the appeal against the High Court Order.
- November 2024: Delta receives additional tax assessments from Delta, adding to those received in 2022. Disputed amount reaches USD 74,8 million. Amount includes principal tax, penalties, and interest for value-added tax, and income tax for the periods 2019 to 2022.
- December 2024: Delta pays USD 9,2 million following the “pay now, argue later principle.”
- March 2025: Delta informs shareholders that its confirmed tax bill for the year is USD 254,15 million.
- USD 230,35 million in indirect taxes: VAT, Sugar Tax, and Excise Tax.
- USD 23,8 million income tax.
- July 8, 2025: Constitutional Court rules against Delta on its application of January 20, 2025, on the basis that there was no fundamental procedural irregularity or violation of Delta’s rights by the Supreme Court. Effectively, Delta will have to pay.
Notable Points:
- Dispute highlights Zimbabwe’s unstable currency regime, which is both confusing to taxpayers and vulnerable to abuse.
- Zimbabwe’s provisional tax regime is based on self-assessments by companies, which may be abused by companies to evade tax obligations. This requires constant vigilance.
- Delta wants ZIMRA to accept payment in the form of Government-issued Treasury Bills it holds.
- ZIMRA’s audit system may have successfully worked to reduce risk in revenue collection.
ZITAP Call to Action:
- The government must simplify the country’s taxation system and currency requirements to ease compliance.
- Companies must shoulder their fair share of the tax burden in line with the ability to pay principle.