Harare taxes your Indian interest. India should take less.
India and Zimbabwe have no tax treaty. Source-based Zimbabwe deems an ordinarily resident person's foreign interest and dividends Zimbabwean. Declare Indian Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) and Non-Resident External (NRE) interest and dividends on your ITF 12C return, crediting Indian tax paid. Indian income tax returns refund tax deducted at source (TDS) above slab tax. Use Form 128 (formerly Form 13) before selling a flat and Form 145/146 (formerly 15CA/15CB) to repatriate.
No DTAA. But a lot of other work you still need help with.
ITR filing, Form 13 lower-TDS, tax notices, repatriation, Section 91 relief. That's where we help.
about 9,500 (2,100 NRIs and 7,400 PIOs)
Indians in Harare
Senior CAs handle your whole India tax side, filing, recovery, notices, property, repatriation. No India trip needed.
Not just DTAA
Chartered Accountants for Zimbabwe NRIs. Your whole India tax life
DTAA refund recovery is our flagship, but it's one of many things our ICAI-registered CAs handle for Zimbabwe NRIs, filing, property, tax notices, repatriation and more, all from Zimbabwe with no India trip.
NRI ITR filing
Our CAs file your ITR-2 / ITR-3 from abroad
DTAA TDS recovery
Cut 30% NRO TDS to your treaty rate, recover past years
Property sale (Form 13)
Cut the 12.5% TDS before you sell
Tax notices
Section 148 / 143 / 245 replies, handled
Repatriation (15CA / 15CB)
Move funds out without bank friction
Inherited property
Cost step-up, sale and repatriation
Form 10F / TRC
Treaty-rate paperwork, end-to-end
No DTAA, here's what we still do
India and Zimbabwe have no treaty. Your Indian tax life still needs a CA.
With no India-Zimbabwe DTAA or Income Tax Department agreement, Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest suffers 30% tax deducted at source (TDS) and dividends 20%. Source-based Zimbabwe's Income Tax Act section 12(2) deems ordinarily resident people's NRO interest, tax-free Non-Resident External (NRE) interest, and foreign dividends Zimbabwean. ZIMRA taxes investment income at 25% plus 3% AIDS levy and foreign-company dividends at 20%; Section 93 credits Indian tax up to Zimbabwe's. Indian rent and share, fund, or property gains escape Zimbabwe's income and capital gains tax. Indian income tax returns (ITR) refund excess TDS; Form 128 (formerly Form 13) cuts property-sale TDS.
Form 13 lower-TDS
Apply for a lower (or nil) TDS certificate before your bank/buyer deducts. The cleanest way to avoid the 30% hit at source.
Section 91 unilateral relief
If you've already paid Nigerian tax on the same income, claim foreign tax credit in your Indian ITR under Section 91, the only relief route when there's no treaty.
15CA / 15CB repatriation
Move funds out of your NRO account to your overseas account, properly documented and CA-certified. Required by every Indian bank.
ITR filing for NRIs
Annual return, past-year condonation, Form 67 for foreign tax credits, capital gains, property sale TDS reconciliation, the bread-and-butter NRI work.
Tax notice response
Section 148 reassessments, Section 143(1) intimations, AIS mismatches, demand notices. We respond with the right legal grounds before deadlines slip.
No treaty rate to chase. But there's real money in doing the rest right.
Zimbabwe NRIs we work with usually save more from a clean Form 13 + ITR than a treaty rate would have given them anyway. A CA who knows Zimbabwe makes the difference.
Talk to a Zimbabwe-specialist CAWhat we still do
No treaty, no treaty rate. But plenty of real work.
Hypothetical example: Ketan, 44, is an Indian citizen managing a pharmaceutical distributor in Harare, where he has lived for eight years. He holds ₹12L in Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) fixed deposits (FDs), ₹3L in NRO savings, and a ₹10L Indian mutual fund (MF) portfolio, redeeming ₹2L of units a year. With no treaty, his bank's 30% tax deducted at source (TDS) on interest stands. Because Zimbabwe deems that interest Zimbabwean and credits Indian tax paid, he files an Indian income tax return (ITR) and a matching ITF 12C return rather than a treaty form.
Clean ITR filing
Full schedules (FA, AL, NRI disclosures). Section 91 foreign tax credit claim for any Zimbabwetax you've paid on the same income. Done right, the first time.
Form 13 / Section 197
Selling property in India? A lower-TDS certificate drops your TDS from 12.5% of the full sale price down to the actual gain. On a ₹1 crore sale, that's often ₹15-20 lakh of cash-flow.
Tax notices, end-to-end
148, 143(1), 143(2), 245, 139(9). We draft the reply, file on the portal, attend the hearing, follow up to closure. Under Section 288 authorized representation.
Repatriation (15CA/15CB)
Moving money from India back to Zimbabwe. CA-signed 15CB, Part C filings, bank coordination. Nothing stuck, nothing rejected.
This is what a typical Zimbabwe NRI with Indian-national professionals: ₹10-30L in NRO and NRE FDs, ₹5-15L in MFs, sometimes a family flat in India. Long-settled Gujarati families: often an inherited or family property in Gujarat, small NRO accounts. actually needs, treaty or no treaty.
Your side of the process
How to get your Tax Residency Certificate
You're an Indian in Zimbabwe. India needs proof. Here's the workflow from Zimbabwe, documents, portal, timeline, the lot.
Who issues it
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA)
What it costs
Not applicable, no treaty to claim
Timeline
Not applicable
Form 10F / Form 41
Not required
Step-by-step for Indians in Harare
Not needed. A tax residency certificate (TRC) and Form 41 (formerly Form 10F) exist only to claim treaty rates, and there is no India-Zimbabwe treaty, so your Indian bank will not ask for them. What matters on the Zimbabwe side is your ZIMRA registration: if you have Indian interest or dividends to declare, you file the ITF 12C self-assessment return, which ZIMRA says is for individuals as well as companies, through its Self Service Portal within four months of the 31 December year end. To claim the section 93 credit you must prove to ZIMRA that Indian tax was paid on the same income, so keep each Form 131 (formerly Form 16A) TDS certificate and your Indian ITR.
Don't want to deal with Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) yourself? Our CAs handle TRC guidance for Zimbabwe NRIs every day.
Want a CA who handles Zimbabwe-India tax every week?
Free 15-minute call. We tell you what you can recover and what it takes.
Senior CA who specialises in NRI tax · we deal with the tax officer, you don't
Things Zimbabwe NRIs should know
Pitfalls we've seen Indians in Harare face
We work with the Indian community in Zimbabwe every day. These are the traps that cost real money.
No treaty rate exists for Zimbabwe, and anyone offering one is wrong. The Income Tax Department lists no India-Zimbabwe DTAA or tax agreement. Your bank deducts 30% on Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest and 20% on dividends, and no tax residency certificate (TRC) or Form 41 (formerly Form 10F) changes that.
You must declare Indian Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) interest, Non-Resident External (NRE) interest, and Indian dividends on your ITF 12C return. Despite Zimbabwe's source-based system, section 12(2) of Zimbabwe's Income Tax Act deems foreign loan or deposit interest and share dividends of an ordinarily resident person to come from Zimbabwe.
Expect full Zimbabwean tax on Indian Non-Resident External (NRE) interest. NRE interest is tax-free in India, leaving no tax to credit, so Zimbabwe's 25% investment income rate plus the 3% AIDS levy applies in full. With a Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) deposit, Indian tax deducted at source (TDS) is credited.
File both returns with the same numbers and tell ZIMRA when an Indian income tax return (ITR) refunds tax deducted at source (TDS). Section 93 credits Indian tax on that income, capped at the Zimbabwe tax, and section 92(3)(d) lets ZIMRA reduce the credit as Indian tax paid falls.
Before selling Indian property, get a Form 128 (formerly Form 13) lower-deduction certificate under Section 395 (formerly Section 197); India taxes long-term gains at 12.5%. Indian flat rent is foreign-source and outside Zimbabwe's income tax, and Zimbabwe's capital gains tax covers only sales from a source within Zimbabwe.
Prefer mutual fund growth plans, as redemption gains escape Zimbabwe's income and capital gains tax, or ask a Zimbabwean tax adviser about Income Distribution cum Capital Withdrawal (IDCW) payouts. India deducts 20% tax deducted at source (TDS), while trust payouts may miss section 12(2) and 20% foreign-company dividend rules.
Prepare Form 145 (formerly Form 15CA) for every taxable transfer from India, plus a chartered accountant's Form 146 (formerly Form 15CB) above ₹5 lakh. You can repatriate up to USD 1 million a financial year from Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) balances, property sale proceeds, or inheritances.
Authenticate Zimbabwean death certificates or documents for India at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Embassy of India in Harare, since Zimbabwe is outside the Hague Apostille Convention. Being outside India's 20 social security agreements, Zimbabwean and Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) periods stay separate.
Questions from Zimbabwe NRIs
Everything Indians in Harare ask us
6+ answers. Hover on dotted terms for plain-English explanations.
The exceptions that change the answer
Where the general rule stops applying to you
Every rule below has a carve-out, a cut-off date or a condition that flips the answer. These are the ones that decide real cases.
LTCG rate: assets other than STT-paid listed equity (includes property)
Right now: 12.5% without indexation
Where it works differently
- A RESIDENT individual or HUF sells land or a building acquired before 23 July 2024
- May elect the lower of 12.5% without indexation or 20% with indexation.
- Grandfathering proviso inserted by Finance (No. 2) Act 2024.
- A NON-RESIDENT sells the same property
- 12.5% without indexation only. The election is NOT available.
- The grandfathering proviso is expressly limited to resident individuals and HUFs. This is the highest-value NRI distinction on the site.
- Shares or debentures of an Indian company were bought in convertible foreign exchange by a non-resident
- The first proviso to s.48 computes the gain in that foreign currency, neutralising rupee depreciation. This is separate from, and not lost with, indexation.
- First proviso to s.48 survives the 2024 changes.
- Adding surcharge and cess
- Surcharge on capital gains under s.111A/112/112A is capped at 15%, plus 4% health and education cess.
- The cap applies to gains under s.111A, s.112 and s.112A.
Commonly got wrong
- NRIs can choose 20% with indexation on property bought before July 2024. The election is resident-only. Stating otherwise understates an NRI's tax, which is the worst direction to be wrong in.Residents may elect 20% with indexation for pre-23-July-2024 land and buildings. Non-residents get 12.5% without indexation, full stop.
- LTCG on property is 20%. Stale since 23 July 2024 unless the transfer predates it.12.5% for transfers on or after 23 July 2024.
NRO account: what it costs and what it caps
Right now: Interest taxed at 30% plus surcharge and cess; repatriation capped at USD 1 million a financial year
Where it works differently
- A TRC and Form 10F (Form 41 from 1 Apr 2026) are furnished
- The treaty rate applies to the interest, commonly 10-15% under Article 11 instead of 30% plus surcharge.
- s.90(2). This is the single largest recurring recovery item for most NRIs.
- Remitting out
- Form 15CA is needed, plus Form 15CB from a CA where the remittance is chargeable and above Rs 5 lakh in the year.
- Rule 37BB.
- Joint holders
- The USD 1 million ceiling is per person per financial year, so joint holders each have their own.
- FEMA 13(R).
Commonly got wrong
- NRO interest is taxed at 30%. Incomplete. Surcharge and 4% cess sit on top, and a treaty can cut it to 10-15%.30% plus surcharge and cess by default, but 10-15% under most treaties if you hold a TRC and file Form 10F.
EPF withdrawal exemption: continuous service
Right now: 5 years of continuous service
Where it works differently
- Service is under 5 years
- Four components are taxed separately: employer contribution and its interest as salary, employee contribution previously claimed under 80C reversed, and interest on employee contribution as other sources.
- Rule 8 of Part A of the Fourth Schedule.
- Employment ended for reasons beyond the employee's control
- The 5-year condition is relaxed.
- Proviso to Rule 8.
- The account is inoperative
- Interest continues to accrue and is taxable once the member leaves service.
- Settled position; a live issue for NRIs with dormant accounts.
Commonly got wrong
- EPF withdrawal is always tax-free. Only after 5 years of continuous service.An EPF withdrawal is tax-free only after five years of continuous service. Below five years, four separate components become taxable in different heads.
EPF interest that becomes taxable on high contributions
Right now: Interest on employee contributions above Rs 2,50,000 a year is taxable (Rs 5,00,000 where the employer makes no contribution)
Where it works differently
- The member is an NRI with a dormant account
- Interest continues to accrue, and an account becomes inoperative after 36 months without contribution, at which point the interest is taxable in India.
- EPF Scheme rules plus settled tax treatment.
- The member has left India
- Indian tax on that interest still applies as India-sourced income, and the residence country may tax it too.
- s.9 read with the relevant treaty.
Commonly got wrong
- All EPF interest is tax-free. Interest on employee contributions above Rs 2.5 lakh a year has been taxable since FY 2021-22.Interest is tax-free up to Rs 2.5 lakh of employee contribution a year (Rs 5 lakh where the employer does not contribute). Above that it is taxable.
No treaty. No shortcut.
Plenty we can still do.
ITR filing. Form 13 lower-TDS on property sales. Tax notices, repatriation, Section 91 unilateral relief. Your Indian tax life still needs a CA who knows Zimbabwe.
More for Indians in Harare
Friends & neighbours
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