Customs and Excise (Furniture Manufacture) (Rebate) Regulations, 2024

These regulations replace the 2016 furniture manufacturers' rebate scheme (S.I. 3 of 2016) with a tighter, list-based one. They came into effect on publication, 22 November 2024.

Only the 30 companies named in the Third Schedule are even eligible to apply. The list includes Bravo Group Manufacturing, Teecherz Furnishers, Ace Foam, Restapedic Manufacturing, Elite Furniture, Regal Bedding, Unifur (trading as Universal Furniture Manufacturers), Hunting Furniture (trading as Adam Bede), Sterling Furnishing and Kitchen Décor, among others. A manufacturer not on the list has no route into the scheme, however well it qualifies otherwise.

Getting registered means applying to the proper officer on Form FMR 1, being registered with ZIMRA with a valid tax clearance certificate, having premises and machinery inspected before the Commissioner considers the application, erecting secure stores that can be closed with Customs locks, entering a bond with sufficient surety in an amount the Commissioner sets, and paying the registration fee prescribed under section 173 of the Customs and Excise (General) Regulations, 2001. Register after 30 June in a year and the fee is halved. Renewal is due annually on or before 31 January.

Once registered, rebated goods may be stored only in the Customs-locked stores, must be entered for consumption at the port of entry nearest the factory, and must be covered by a signed declaration that they are solely for making furniture. A stock-book approved by the Commissioner must be kept — and if it is not, all rebated goods received during that period are deemed to have been diverted, and the duty becomes payable unless the manufacturer can prove otherwise. Rebated goods cannot be sold or otherwise disposed of without the Commissioner's written authority and payment of the rebated duty. If registration is cancelled, all rebated duty becomes due immediately.

The genuinely new obligation is section 12. Each manufacturer must file an annual report to the Minister of Finance showing what the rebate actually delivered: incremental employment, capacity utilisation, new investment, output growth and research and development. It is due within 30 days of the end of each 12-month period, running from the effective date in the first year and from 1 January thereafter. Miss it and the rebate is withdrawn immediately, the goods received in that period are deemed diverted, and the manufacturer must pay back the rebated revenue plus the penalty for failure to keep records.

The Second Schedule lists roughly 120 tariff codes eligible for rebate — solvents and isocyanates, paints and varnishes, glues and polymer adhesives, polyethers, polyurethanes and silicones, PVC foils, leather, veneer sheets, melamine board and MDF, blockboard, canvas and woven fabrics, non-wovens, foam and cellular rubber, sanding paper, framed mirrors, wire, springs, screws, staples, hinges, drawer locks, chair bases and mattress supports.

Two drafting slips: the First Schedule lists the bond as "Form 145" while section 5(6)(b) requires a bond on "Form No. 146", and section 5(3) refers back to "subsection (1)" where it means the application under subsection (2). The forms themselves are not printed and must be inspected free of charge at ZIMRA offices.