Filing for the first time
Landlords new to rental tax
You know rent is taxable but have never turned a year of MoMo screenshots into a filed number.
Notes for Zambian landlords
No. 06 · ZRA rental income reporting
Updated September 2026
No. 06 · Tax records
Your monthly ZRA figure, ready before the 14th
Rental income tax in Zambia is filed monthly, by the 14th of the next month. So the job most landlords dread does not come once a year, it comes round every month. Tezeka builds the figure from the payments you have already confirmed, instead of asking you to rebuild it from MoMo statements.
In short
- Rental income totalled from confirmed payments, never retyped
- Your yearly total placed in the 0%, 4% or 16% band
- Tax worked out on gross rent, as ZRA charges it
- Commercial units flagged where VAT may apply
02 · Side by side
The same month, two ways
On the 13th
- Scrolling MoMo messages to see what came in
- Hoping nothing was counted twice
- Working out the band from memory
- Repairs forgotten because nobody wrote them down
In Tezeka
- Confirmed payments totalled for the month
- Each payment counted once, with its reference
- The band worked out from your yearly total
- Repair costs kept as they happen
The deadline arrives before the records are ready
As the 14th gets close, a landlord without a system is scrolling MoMo messages and bank alerts, working out what actually came in that month and hoping nothing was missed. Add a unit partway through the year and the band that applies to everything can shift, which is easy to miss when the total is only worked out under pressure.
The rate is not the hard part. The hard part is producing a clean number, from real records, in the days before it is due, every month and not once a year.
04 · How it works
October’s return, from rent to review
The figure comes from records you already keep for other reasons: confirmed payments and repair costs.
- 1 to 31 Oct
Each confirmed payment is dated and tied to a unit and a month.
- 4 Oct
A geyser repair costs K850 and is kept against the property.
- 1 Nov
Tezeka totals October’s income across your units.
- 1 Nov
Your band is worked out: 0%, 4% or 16% on your yearly total, as an estimate.
- 14 Nov
You review, download and file, or hand it to your accountant.
05 · Who this is for
Three landlords we had in mind
Units across Lusaka and Ndola
Landlords near a band line
Several modest units can lift your yearly total into a higher band than one expensive let. It is worth knowing before it surprises you.
Working with an accountant
Owners who hand it over
Give your accountant clean, confirmed records instead of raw statements and a WhatsApp history to sort through.
06 · What changes
What you stop doing by hand
- i
Scrambling the night before the 14th
- ii
Wondering how a figure was reached
- iii
Finding out your band changed after you filed
- iv
Forgetting repair costs at filing time
No. 0001
- Date
- Today
- Received from
- You
- For
- 1 unit
- Amount
- K99 a month
Counterfoil. Keep for your records
Start here
Start with the property you have
Solo is K99 a month for 1 unit. Your tenants keep paying you directly by MoMo, Airtel Money or bank transfer. Tezeka never touches your rent.
Does Tezeka file my ZRA return for me?
No. It prepares a figure for you or your accountant to review and submit. It is not a substitute for a qualified tax adviser, and anything you file should be reviewed by one.
Is rental income tax filed yearly or monthly?
Monthly, by the 14th of the following month. It is the detail most often missed, and our guide to rental income tax covers it in more depth.
What are the bands?
Nil on the lowest slice of yearly rental income, then 4%, then 16% above the upper threshold. Which band applies depends on your total across all units, not on any single unit’s rent. Tezeka shows every figure as an estimate.
Does it cover VAT on commercial units?
Commercial units are flagged where VAT may apply, next to the rental income figure. Registering and filing for VAT stays with you or your accountant.
I already have an accountant. Is this still useful?
Yes. It gives your accountant clean, confirmed monthly records instead of raw MoMo and bank statements.
What if I add a unit partway through the year?
Because the band depends on your yearly total, a new unit can change the rate applied to everything. Tezeka flags it instead of letting it surface at filing time.