Income Tax (Fiscalised Recording of Fuel Transactions) Regulations, 2026

Fuel operators must record every transaction through a Fuel Fiscal Device linked to ZIMRA's Fiscalisation Data Management System. The device can be physical hardware integrated with a pump or a virtual one — an API, point-of-sale system or software solution the Commissioner has approved. All fuel transactions must be transmitting electronically within six months of publication, though the Commissioner may defer that by public notice if there are technical or operational constraints.

The scope is wider than the forecourt. "Fuel transactions" is defined to cover procurement, sale, movement, transfer, distribution, uptake, storage and holding of petroleum products, so depots and distributors are caught alongside service stations.

Operating rules are exacting. Every receipt or invoice must carry the device's fiscal signature, serial number and verification code. The fiscal day must be closed online, and runs no longer than twenty-four hours. Records must stay in the device, unalterable and accessible to the Commissioner, for at least six years. Operators need backup power able to run all devices for at least eight hours. If a device goes down for more than eight hours, the Commissioner must be told within eight hours — or by 8am the next working day if it happened out of hours — and manual receipts may only be used with approval, though if the Commissioner does not reply within four hours the operator may go manual and upload once service is restored. Manual receipting is capped at thirty days. A device stuck in an error state for more than thirty days must be replaced within seven days.

The penalties are the part to read first. Failing to acquire or install a device closes the fuel business until the operator regularises. Failing to record transactions through a device brings a civil penalty of US$1 000 per point of sale, plus US$25 a day for each day the penalty goes unpaid and a further US$25 a day for each day recording does not happen, each capped at ninety days — after which it becomes a criminal offence carrying a fine up to level seven, up to twelve months in prison, or both. Failing to interface a device runs US$25 a day per point of sale on the same structure, though the Commissioner may waive it where the breach was not wilful.

Tampering is treated hardest: US$1 000 per device or three times the tax involved, whichever is higher, plus US$50 a day unpaid and US$50 a day un-remedied, then the same criminal exposure. Selling a device that has not been approved carries up to US$20 000.

Suppliers carry their own obligations. To be licensed they need a valid tax clearance, a permanent establishment or representative taxpayer in Zimbabwe, minimum capital of US$25 000 evidenced by bank statement or guarantee, a qualified technical team, and working API prototypes. Licences last three years. They must deliver, install and configure within seven days of full payment — US$100 a day if they do not — keep spare parts for five years after the last device is sold, run service centres in every region or province, and resolve reported malfunctions within forty-eight hours.

A Fuel Fiscal Device Technical Committee of at least five people drawn from the Ministry of Finance, ZIMRA and ZERA advises the Minister on approvals, inspections and revocations, with members required to declare interests and recuse themselves. The Minister publishes the list of approved suppliers in the Gazette.