How Vehicle Customs Clearing Works at Beitbridge

("Clearing" is the process where ZIMRA decides what your car is worth, charges duty and tax on it, and releases the car into Zimbabwe. Every car we import enters at Beitbridge.

The documents ZIMRA asks for on a private vehicle import

ZIMRA's published requirements for private individuals include:

• a customs declaration (Form 47 for a private import)
• the invoice or agreement of sale
• the used-vehicle registration book
• a police clearance from the country of export — SARPCO for South Africa
• the export bill of entry and supporting export documents
• a freight statement and an insurance statement

For a private, non-merchandise import, ZIMRA's guidance allows clearance on Form 49 without a clearing agent. Commercial imports are declared on Form 21 through ASYCUDA with the transport documents and any permits or licences.

How duty is worked out

Duty is charged on ZIMRA's value for the car, not the price you happened to pay. That value includes the cost of the car plus international insurance and freight up to the point of entry; inland transport inside Zimbabwe is left out. ZIMRA can reject a declared value for a used car and reassess it against comparable vehicles and the car's condition.

On top of duty there is VAT, and a luxury surcharge of 30% applies to specified high-value vehicles — ZIMRA announced it from 1 June 2023 for vehicles with a free-on-board value of US$120,000 or more. The standard VAT rate is 15.5% from 1 January 2026.

We do not publish a duty percentage as fact. The commonly quoted duty and surtax brackets for ordinary used cars are not published by ZIMRA in a form we can verify, so we send you a written estimate for your exact car and you can check it against ZIMRA's own tariff tool at etariff.zimra.co.zw.

What you should receive at the end

• the official ZIMRA receipt for duty paid
• the Customs Clearance Certificate
• the release order and the Bill of Entry or Form 49 receipt

Registered clearing agents are required to attach verifiable bank proof that duty funds reached a ZIMRA bank account, with the transaction reference shown on the entry. If an agent cannot show you that proof, do not pay them the duty money.

Then registration

With the clearance papers in hand, registration in Zimbabwe needs the Customs Clearance Certificate, police clearance, proof of residence, your national ID and the clearance papers. Ask us about the current RTD step for your specific car before you travel, because the counter order at a border post is not something we can verify from published sources.

The honest summary

Clearing is predictable if the documents exist and the valuation is checked early. It is expensive and slow when a buyer pays for a car that is too old, undocumented, or mispriced. We check all three before you pay.

Ask us to clear a car or see what it really costs.)