How PAYE Works in Zimbabwe (USD)

If you earn a USD salary in Zimbabwe, the tax taken off your payslip each month is PAYE — Pay As You Earn — and your employer sends it to ZIMRA on your behalf. The most common worry is that the number looks arbitrary. It isn't. It follows ZIMRA's published USD tax tables, and once you see how they work, you can check your own payslip.

Zimbabwe uses a progressive system: the more you earn, the higher the rate on the top part of your income — but the first slice is always taxed lightly, or not at all. For 2026, the first USD 100 you earn each month is taxed at 0%. Nothing at all comes off that first hundred dollars. Only income above it starts attracting tax, rising in steps to a top rate of 40% on income above USD 3,000 a month.

ZIMRA's tables use a shortcut to calculate this quickly. Instead of splitting your salary into slices, each band gives you a rate to multiply by and a fixed amount to subtract. For example, the band covering USD 1,000 to 2,000 says: multiply by 30%, then subtract 85. So on a USD 1,800 salary, the PAYE is 1,800 × 30% − 85 = USD 455. That is ZIMRA's own worked example, printed on the table itself. The "subtract" amount is what accounts for the lower rates on the earlier part of your income — it's the progressive system in disguise.

Here are the 2026 USD monthly bands:

Monthly income (USD)	Rate	Subtract
$0 – $100	0%	—
$100.01 – $300	20%	$20
$300.01 – $1,000	25%	$35
$1,000.01 – $2,000	30%	$85
$2,000.01 – $3,000	35%	$185
Above $3,000	40%	$335

One thing unique to Zimbabwe: on top of the PAYE, there's a 3% AIDS levy — but that's covered in its own guide. And if you're paid partly or fully in ZiG rather than USD, a separate set of tables applies. PAYE is due to ZIMRA by the 10th of the following month.

This is general information, not tax advice. To see your own take-home pay including NSSA and the AIDS levy, use the calculator.