Facebook has announced that it is now required by the local taxman ZIMRA to charge VAT on Facebook Ads, the amount it will definitely remit to ZIMRA every month. The matter came to light as people who have advert accounts started receiving the following email about the soon to be charged VAT:
Dear Baba
Due to implementation of a value-added tax (VAT) in Zimbabwe, Facebook is required to charge VAT on the sale of ads to all advertisers in Zimbabwe. All advertisers with a business country of Zimbabwe will be charged an additional 14.5% VAT on advertising services purchased on or after 1 September 2020.
You don’t have to enter a Zimbabwe tax ID. However, if you’re registered for VAT and provide your tax ID, your tax ID will show up on your ads receipts. This may help you recover any VAT that you paid to Zimbabwe tax authorities if you are a VAT-registered business in Zimbabwe.
How to add your tax ID to your Zimbabwe ad account:
Go to Account settings Scroll down to the field labelled “Tax ID number” Add your Zimbabwe tax ID For additional information, please visit our Help Centre.
Thanks, The Facebook Business Team
ZIMRA early this year also decided to charge VAT on all DSTV payments which prompted the provider to also increase their bouquet prices to cater for the charges. However, DSTV said they had been remitting VAT on behalf of their customers but had decided to extend the cost to the customers.
Source: Facebook Business