Tanzania Withholding Tax Calculator

Withholding tax (WHT) in Tanzania

Withholding tax is a tax that the payer deducts from a payment at source and remits directly to the TRA on behalf of the recipient. It applies to a wide range of cross-border and domestic payments — services, dividends, interest, royalties, rent, and insurance premiums — at rates that mostly range from 2% to 15% depending on the nature of the payment and the residency status of the payee.

Common WHT rates in 2026

• Service fees, including management and technical fees — resident: 5%
• Service fees — non-resident: 15%
• Management & technical fees in mining, oil and gas: 10% resident (a final tax) / 15% non-resident
• Interest: 10% resident and non-resident (nil for residents on DSE-listed corporate or municipal bonds)
• Royalties (general): 10–15%* — TRA's website says 10%, its 2025/26 booklet says 15% for non-residents
• Dividends: 5% from DSE-listed companies / 5% to a resident company holding 25% or more / 10% other dividends, resident and non-resident
• Rent on commercial land and buildings: 10% resident / 10%* non-resident (TRA's 2025/26 booklet says 20%)
• Hire of motor vehicles: 10% resident (from the Finance Act 2025)
• Insurance premiums — non-resident: 10% (raised from 5% by the Finance Act 2025)
• Directors' fees (non-full-time directors): 15%
• Goods supplied to government and its institutions: 2%

* Where TRA's sources disagree, confirm the rate in writing with TRA or your tax adviser before you rely on it. Residential rent: since the Finance Act 2023, individuals paying residential rent no longer have to withhold tax; the 10% still applies to rent a business pays on commercial premises. Full table: Withholding Tax in Tanzania 2026.

How to remit WHT

1. Withhold at the time of payment.
2. File the monthly WHT statement and pay TRA within 7 days after the end of the month, against a control number from the TRA Taxpayer Portal.
3. Once paid, print the WHT certificate from the Taxpayer Portal (Tax Payment) and give it to the payee.
4. For non-final WHT, the payee uses the certificate to claim credit on their annual return.

How to calculate withholding tax in Tanzania

The formula is the same for every payment type: WHT = gross payment × rate, and the payee receives the gross payment minus the WHT. The calculator above does this once you choose the payment type. By hand, it takes three steps:

1. Identify the payment: service fee, rent, interest, dividend, royalty, goods supplied to government and so on. Each has its own rate.
2. Check where the payee is resident. A service fee is 5% to a resident but 15% to a non-resident.
3. Apply the rate to the gross amount, not to what is left after other deductions. When the supplier is VAT-registered, firms usually apply WHT to the fee before VAT; agree the base with your adviser and use it the same way every time.

Worked examples

• Withholding tax on services (resident): a TZS 4,000,000 consultancy fee to a Tanzanian firm. WHT at 5% is TZS 200,000. Pay the consultant TZS 3,800,000 and remit TZS 200,000 to TRA.
• Withholding tax on rent: your business rents a shop for TZS 1,500,000 a month from a resident landlord. WHT at 10% is TZS 150,000 a month, or TZS 1,800,000 over a year.
• A non-resident supplier paid "net": a foreign firm with no presence in Tanzania wants exactly TZS 8,500,000 after tax for its services. Gross the fee up at 15%: 8,500,000 ÷ (1 − 0.15) = TZS 10,000,000, of which TZS 1,500,000 is WHT.
• Goods supplied to government: a TZS 20,000,000 supply to a government institution. WHT at 2% is TZS 400,000.

Timing: tax withheld on payments made in March must reach TRA by 7 April, within 7 days after the end of the month.

Final or non-final: does the payee get the tax back?

TRA sorts WHT into two types. A final WHT settles the payee's tax on that income, and the payee cannot claim it back. A non-final WHT works like an advance payment: the payee deducts it from the income tax due on the annual return. Broadly, WHT on payments to non-residents without a permanent establishment, and on dividends and interest received by individuals, tends to be final. WHT on service fees and rent received by Tanzanian businesses tends to be non-final. Whether a particular payment is final depends on the payee and the section of the Income Tax Act, so check your own case. If you are the payee, keep every certificate: a credit you cannot prove is a credit you lose.

Withholding VAT is a separate charge

Do not confuse WHT with withholding VAT, which is 3% on goods and 6% on services. It is a VAT mechanism, not income tax, so check with TRA or your adviser whether a payment needs income-tax WHT, withholding VAT, both or neither. For the full rate table and more examples, read Withholding Tax in Tanzania 2026.

WHT is a major compliance pitfall for SMBs paying foreign suppliers — a missed 15% withholding can become a 15% straight cost. Tawala's accounting module flags every payment that triggers WHT and prepares the certificate automatically. See related: Corporate Tax Calculator, VAT Calculator.

Sources: TRA, "Withholding tax" page (tra.go.tz/page/withholding-tax): rate list, 7-day deadline, certificates; TRA, Taxes and Duties at a Glance 2025/26; PKF digest of the Finance Act 2025 (insurance premium 10%, hired vehicles 10%, extractive management/technical fees 10% final); PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Tanzania withholding taxes; EY, Finance Act 2023 analysis (residential rent). Checked 24 October 2026.

Take this further

WHT is deducted by the payer, so the risk sits with you, not your supplier. Tawala Finance applies the right rate per supplier and per payment type, produces the withholding certificates, and Tawala Accounting tracks the remittance.

Not sure which module fits? Compare every option under Tawala solutions, or find the setup for your sector under Tawala by industry.