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The traveller’s rebate is a duty-free allowance which is granted to genuine travellers, subject to prescribed conditions. It is divided into two categories namely total rebate and partial rebate.Total rebate is an allowance granted on all used personal effects. Personal effects refer to articles pertaining to or carried upon the body such as used clothes and toilet requisites.

Partial rebate is an allowance granted on goods imported by a traveller once in a calendar month and on their first entry into Zimbabwe.

This duty-free allowance is $200 per person and is granted on goods imported by travellers for their personal use.

The list of goods that are excluded is as follows:

Goods which are incorrectly declared;

Goods which are imported for commercial purposes;

Alcoholic beverages in excess of five litres per traveller of which two litres may be spirits:

Goods which are imported by any member of the crew of an aircraft, ship or vehicle arriving from outside Zimbabwe;

Stoves, refrigerators;

Cooking oil, laundry bar soap;

Blankets, beds, mattresses;

Flour, maize meal, sugar;

Meat, fish, eggs;

Powdered milk, yoghurt, cheese;

Corn puffs, jam, and honey

This means that importation of such goods will attract duty at the prescribed rates even though the value might be under the duty-free allowance of U$200.

You may recall that goods carried upon transport service vehicles drawing a trailer as defined in Statutory Instrument Number 148 of 2015 were also excluded from the travellers’ rebate.

However, kindly take note that with effect from 21 October 2016, the rebate has been restored to goods imported by genuine travellers for their personal and household use and are being transported in trailer drawing omnibuses and other passenger carrying vehicle drawing trailers.

This means that any person who travels by bus, for example, and the bus is drawing a trailer, provided all the other conditions for granting the rebate are fulfilled, shall be entitled to this $200 travellers’ allowance.

Please note that the importation of certain commodities such as cooking oil, milk, blankets and washing preparations in whatever quantities requires an import licence from Ministry of Industry and Commerce and this licence should be produced at the time of importation. Failure to produce the import licence would result in the goods being detained until such time that the import licence is availed.

You are hereby encouraged to correctly declare all the goods in your possession and to take note of the current changes to avoid any inconveniences.

Disclaimer

This article was compiled by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority for information purposes only. ZIMRA shall not accept responsibility for loss or damage arising from use of material in this article and no liability will attach to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.