Corporate Income Tax in Zambia

General reference only. This skill is general tax/accounting reference material for AI-assisted workflows. It has not been reviewed for any specific person's facts, documents, elections, deadlines, residency, filing status, or local procedures. Do not rely on it to file, pay, amend, or take a tax position without review by a qualified professional in the relevant jurisdiction.

Charge year: 1 January to 31 December 2026. Law: Income Tax Act, Cap. 323, as amended by Acts 10 and 17 of 2025.

Who this applies to

Companies with annual turnover above K5,000,000, and regardless of turnover: management and consultancy businesses, partnerships, mining, approved public benefit organisations. At K5,000,000 or less, companies pay turnover tax: see Income tax. The system is source based.

Rates, bands and thresholds

Item	Amount	Tax year	Official URL
Standard rate, manufacturing and other companies	30%	2026	https://www.zra.org.zm/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Introduction-to-Income-Tax.pdf
Mining, mineral processing	30% (rate read for 2023; mineral royalty also applies)	2026	https://www.zra.org.zm/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Practice-Notes-2023.pdf
Electronic communication business	35%	2026	same
Farming, agro-processing	10%	2026	same
Non-traditional exports	10% agro and farming; 15% others	2026	same
Fertiliser manufacture (chemical or organic)	15%	2026	same
Copper cathode product manufacture	15%	2026	same
Lapidary and jewellery	25%	2026	same
Approved PBO on business income	15%	2026	same
Minimum alternative tax (MAT)	1% of total turnover, credit against income tax, carried at most 5 charge years; not for presumptive or turnover tax payers or railway SPVs in first 12 years	2026	https://www.parliament.gov.zm/sites/default/files/documents/acts/Act%20No.%2010%20of%202025%20-%20The%20Income%20Tax%20%28Amendment%29-Act.pdf
Interest cap, railway SPV	Deduction limited to 70% of tax EBITDA; excess carried forward	2026	https://www.parliament.gov.zm/sites/default/files/documents/acts/Act%20No.%2017%20of%202025%2C%20The%20Income%20Tax%20%28Amendment%29%28No.%202%29%20Act.pdf
Railway SPV rates	0% years 1 to 5; 10% years 6 to 15; 12% years 16 to 25; lower of 30% or para 3(1)(b) years 26 to 28	2026	same
WHT dividends	15% resident; 20% non-resident	2026	https://www.zra.org.zm/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Practice-Notes-2023.pdf
WHT interest to non-resident	20%	2026	https://www.parliament.gov.zm/sites/default/files/documents/acts/Act%20No.%2010%20of%202025%20-%20The%20Income%20Tax%20%28Amendment%29-Act.pdf
WHT interest on Treasury Bills and Government bonds	20%	2026	same

Rates dated 2023 are the latest published table found; Acts 10 and 17 of 2025 did not change them.

The base

Business profits, with deductions under Part IV (ss. 29 to 44): expenditure wholly and exclusively for the business, revenue not capital; capital allowances; bad debts; skills levy; donations to approved PBOs; professional subscriptions. Losses carry forward five years from the same source (s. 30). Add back entertainment, depreciation, general provisions, unrealised exchange losses, tax and penalties. Mining and processing may keep USD books only if 75% or more of gross income is foreign exchange from outside Zambia (s. 55(4), from 1 January 2026).

Deadlines and filing

Provisional return by 31 March (within 90 days of registration if later). Instalments due 31 March, 30 June, 30 September, 31 December, payable by 10 April, 10 July, 10 October, 10 January. Annual return and balance by 21 June of the following year.

How to file the annual return. Log in at the ZRA portal (www.zra.org.zm, tax portal) with TPIN, password and captcha, enter the one-time password sent to email and phone, then choose Returns, File a return. Enter tax type Income Tax, account name and return period (1 January of the charge year; year end fills in). Click Next. Complete the balance sheet (it turns green when balanced) and income statement. Click Next. Choose income sources and enter income and expenditure summaries. Complete the tax computation and remaining schedules. Confirm the summary. Upload certificate ITF 56 A or B signed by you or the preparer. Click Submit. The return can be amended.

Provisional return. Same login, tax type Income Tax, return period as above, Next, choose income source, enter expected taxable income, Next, confirm, Submit. A reference number is generated. It can be amended as often as needed.

Penalties and interest

Late return: 2,000 penalty units (K800) per month or part month for a company; one penalty unit is K0.40. Income understated so tax is underpaid by at least one-third: 25% of the underpayment. Late payment: 5% plus interest at the Bank of Zambia discount rate plus 2%. From 1 January 2026, failure to pay tax under s. 77(4) carries 0.5% per month (s. 78(2A)). Incorrect returns per ZRA penalties page: negligence 17.5%, wilful default 35%, fraud 52.5%. New s. 91A: no penalty on voluntary disclosure before ZRA finds the error.

Cross-border points

A non-resident's fixed place of business is no longer preparatory or auxiliary if related activity at it combines into something more (s. 81AA(2A), from 1 January 2026). Remittances above USD 2,000 without a valid tax clearance certificate draw advance income tax. Treaty rates: ZRA DTA table. Transfer pricing and treaty method: no skill yet.

Two worked examples that recompute

Simple. ZRA example: profit K1,150,000 plus K100,000 staff entertainment added back.

name: Company at 30%
inputs:
  profit: 1150000
  addback: 100000
steps:
  - taxable: profit + addback
  - tax: taxable * 0.30
expected:
  tax: 375000.00

Decision: does MAT bite? Turnover K10,000,000, taxable profit K100,000. Income tax is K30,000; MAT is K100,000. If MAT exceeds income tax, the unused credit carries forward. Treatment of the unused credit against a later year is read from s. 14A(3) and (4).

name: MAT against income tax
inputs:
  turnover: 10000000
  taxable: 100000
steps:
  - mat: turnover * 0.01
  - cit: taxable * 0.30
  - unused_credit: max(mat - cit, 0)
expected:
  mat: 100000.00
  unused_credit: 70000.00

Ask the client first

• Turnover, and is any of it management or consultancy?
• Sector (mining, farming, telecoms, manufacturing)?
• ZDA licence and its date?
• Resident, or a branch of a non-resident?
• Payments to non-residents, and is there a treaty?
• Losses or MAT credits brought forward?

Sources

Source	URL	Read on
Income Tax (Amendment) (No. 2) Act No. 17 of 2025, whole Act; read for the figures cited	https://www.parliament.gov.zm/sites/default/files/documents/acts/Act%20No.%2017%20of%202025%2C%20The%20Income%20Tax%20%28Amendment%29%28No.%202%29%20Act.pdf	2026-11-01
Income Tax (Amendment) Act No. 10 of 2025, whole Act; read for the figures cited	https://www.parliament.gov.zm/sites/default/files/documents/acts/Act%20No.%2010%20of%202025%20-%20The%20Income%20Tax%20%28Amendment%29-Act.pdf	2026-11-01
ZRA Payment Due Dates page; read for the figures cited	https://www.zra.org.zm/payment-due-dates/	2026-11-01
ZRA Penalties page (penalty unit K0.30: stale against the 2026 leaflets); read for the figures cited	https://www.zra.org.zm/penalties/	2026-11-01
ZRA Guide to Filing Tax Returns (2026), OCR read; read for the figures cited	https://www.zra.org.zm/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Guide-to-Filing-Tax-Returns.pdf	2026-11-01
ZRA leaflet Introduction to Income Tax (2026), OCR read; read for the figures cited	https://www.zra.org.zm/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Introduction-to-Income-Tax.pdf	2026-11-01
ZRA Practice Notes 2023, section 48 tax rates (latest notes found); read for the figures cited	https://www.zra.org.zm/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Practice-Notes-2023.pdf	2026-11-01
ZRA DTA rates table; read for the figures cited	https://www.zra.org.zm/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/DTA-Rates.pdf	2026-11-01
ZRA Advance Income Tax on remittances leaflet (2026), first page; read for the figures cited	https://www.zra.org.zm/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Refunds-of-Advance-Income-Tax-on-Remittance.pdf	2026-11-01

Not yet confirmed: the MAT regulations under s. 14A(6), and when MAT is paid; WHT on royalties and management fees (old file 15% and 20%); WHT on resident interest (old 15%); telecoms threshold (old file said higher rate above a threshold, 2023 note says a single 35%); old 15% agriculture rate (ZRA now says 10%); consolidated Income Tax Act not opened; whether 5% late payment still applies beside new s. 78(2A).