Living in Tanzania: four residency criteria, monthly rates and withholding taxes

According to the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), an individual is considered a resident for a given income year if they meet one of four criteria, including 183 days of physical presence. Residents are taxed on their income regardless of its source, unless they have been a resident for two years or less in total during their lifetime. In that case, they are taxed under the non-resident rule, only on income from Tanzanian sources (section 6(2)). Non-residents are taxed on income originating in Tanzania. The monthly tax rate for sole traders, as reported by the TRA, is 30 %. This page does not provide the text of section 86 of the Income Tax Act, which defines residency; it could not be reviewed. It does not address wealth or visas.

Four criteria for becoming a resident

The TRA explains on its page dedicated to starting a business when an individual has been a resident of Tanzania for a year of income. It is sufficient to meet one of the following criteria:

1. to have a permanent home in Tanzania and to be present there for some part of the year; ;
2. be present in Tanzania for 183 days or more in total during the year; ;
3. be present during the income year and during each of the two preceding years, for periods averaging over 122 days for each of those years; ;
4. to be an agent or official of the Tanzanian Government stationed abroad.

The first criterion does not specify a number of days: the text we read refers to a presence for some part of the year, combined with a permanent residence. We were unable to find the definition of "permanent residence." The law refers to section 86 for the meaning of "resident"; the PDF of the TRA (Transactional Administrative Procedure) only provides access up to approximately section 38.

Resident or non-resident: what is taxed

Section 6 of the Income Tax Act distinguishes between two cases. For a resident, taxable income includes employment, business, and investment income for the year, regardless of its source. For a non-resident, it includes such income only to the extent that it originates in Tanzania.

Section 6(2) adds a crucial exception for newcomers: individuals who have been residents for a total of two years or less during their lifetime are taxed under the non-resident rule (section 6(1)(b)). Only Tanzanian-source income is then included in their taxable income.

For a Tanzanian resident, foreign income is subject to taxation, except as provided in section 6(2) described above. France, on the other hand, applies its own criteria for tax residency. The two countries do not have a tax treaty: our page on the absence of a France-Tanzania tax treaty addresses this issue.

Monthly rates for a self-employed trader

The "Income Tax for Individuals" page of the TRA provides a monthly tax schedule for "individual traders who are not under the presumptive tax regime," meaning sole traders operating under a presumptive tax regime. The TRA presents the same schedule for mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.

The page adds that an annual income of 3,240,000 TZS is not taxable. It does not specify whether this scale also applies to employees. It mentions a presumptive regime, based on turnover, but its table has not been reliably reproduced: the page does not provide its thresholds, and access to this regime requires residency for the income year.

A trader in mainland Tanzania: a numerical example (fictitious profile)

Situation. Paul, a fictitious profile, has a permanent residence in mainland Tanzania and runs a business there under his own name, outside the presumptive tax regime. His monthly taxable income is 600,000 TZS in some months and 1,500,000 TZS in other months (assumed amounts).

Issue. He wants to estimate the monthly tax according to the TRA scale.

Strategy. It applies the bracket that corresponds to each monthly income and adds the fixed amount of the bracket.

Result. For 600,000 TZS (Temporary Temporary Solidarity Contributions), the tax is 20,000 plus 20% of 80,000 (%), totaling 36,000, which is an average rate of 6.0%. For 1,500,000 TZS, the tax is 128,000 plus 30% of 500,000 (%), totaling 278,000, which is an average rate of 18.5%. A consistency check: 270,000 per month, multiplied by 12, gives the 3,240,000 annual non-taxable TZS. These figures do not include social security contributions or reporting obligations.

Employees: withholding tax on non-residents and NSSF contributions

The TRA's "Pay As You Earn" page provides for a flat-rate withholding of 15 % from gross employment income for non-resident employees, which it describes as "effectively a final withholding." The same rate of 15 % applies to the remuneration of directors who are not full-time executives; the TRA specifies that the tax due is then a non-final withholding tax. The page does not define "non-resident": it cites temporary workers from abroad as an example. It does not provide a rate for resident employees.

Regarding social security, the Tanzanian National Social Security Fund (NSSF) states that every registered employer pays 20 % of wages. The distribution is either 10 % for the employer and 10 % for the employee, or 15 % and 5 %. The employee's share does not exceed 10 %. Late payments are penalized with a fine of 5 % per month. The page does not mention foreign nationals; it does not specify whether or how an expatriate is affected.

Capital income: withholdings and capital gains

The TRA publishes a table of withholding taxes with one column for residents and one for non-residents. The extract below summarizes the main points.

The table does not include an effective date. The TRA defines final withholding taxes and non-final withholding taxes (which are credited against the tax due) without classifying each line of the table.

For capital gains on land and buildings located in Tanzania, the "Capital Gains Tax" page sets the capital gain at 10 % for a resident and 30 % for a non-resident. The TA includes three exemptions: a dwelling owned and occupied for at least three years with a capital gain of no more than 15,000,000 TZS; agricultural land with a market value of less than 10,000,000 TZS used for agricultural purposes for at least two of the three preceding years; and shares listed in Dar es Salaam held by a person who controls less than 25 % of the company.

What this page does not cover

It provides neither the text of section 86 of the law, nor the thresholds for the presumptive tax regime, nor the filing schedule for individuals. It does not address wealth or inheritance tax, visas and residence permits, or local savings: we were unable to establish any verifiable official sources for this information. The Finance Act 2026 is among the documents published by the TRA; we have not read it in its entirety. Local taxation is verified with a professional established in Tanzania. Matters pertaining to France, particularly the departure declaration and the accounts to be declared, are addressed in our pages on tax residency and exit tax.

What changes depending on your situation

• Your status with regard to the four criteria, year by year, and the total number of years spent as a resident in Tanzania during your lifetime (section 6(2)).
• Your activity: self-employed trader, employee, director, investor.
• The stock market listing of the companies in which you hold shares.
• The timing of your property sales and your residency status at that date.
• The presumptive regime, the thresholds of which have not been read.

The rule depends on your situation. No results are guaranteed.