Good afternoon senior counsel and my learned

colleagues. My name is Counsel Jackie and my co

presenter is Counsel Isabel and we are going to present to
you THE PROPERTY TRANSFER TAX ACT CHAPTER
34O OF THE LAWS OF ZAMBIA which is an Act that
provides for, among others the levying of property transfer
tax in Zambia. Mind you on 27th December 2022
Parliament enacted the Property Transfer Tax
(Amendment) Act No. 27 of 2022 which amended the
PTT Act with effect on 1 January 2023.

Many times people will buy and sell properties without

officially changing ownership of these assets. This is
wrong and in most instances has created legal disputes on
who the true owner is. It is important that once property is
sold and the legal and tax requirements are duly
completed to avoid complications in the future

INTRODUCTION OF CAP 340

Arrangement of Section
Section 1: Short title and commencement
Section 2: Interpretation
Section 3: Functions and powers of Commissioner
Section 4: Property transfer tax
Section 5: Realised value
Section 6: Exemptions
Section 7: Liquidators, receivers, trustees in
bankruptcy
Section 8: Transfer by agents, mortgages etc
Section 9: Returns, notices etc
Section 9A: Penalties under the Income Tax Act to apply
Section11: Payment of tax and penalty for the later
payment
Section 12: Recovery of tax
Section 13: Regulations

Salient features

Definition of Property is found in Section 2. The Act

defines what constitutes property within the context of the
law under the Republic as:-
(a) any land including improvements on it
(b) A share issued by a company incorporated in the
Republic or a share issued by a company
incorporated outside the Republic where the
company directly or indirectly owns at least 10% of
the shares in the accompany incorporated in the
Republic
 (c) Mining rights or interest granted under the Mines
and Minerals Development Act
(d) Intellectual property

Likewise it also defines the term Transfer

(a) in relation to land, excludes, letting or sub-letting,
leasing, under-leasing or sub-leasing for a period of
less than 5 years
(b) In relation to a share, excludes – the allocation of
the same by the company to the member in whose
name it is first registered but includes transfers of
property within a group of companies whose
holding company is incorporated in Zambia.

RATE OF TAX is found in Section 4

(c) The rate of tax applicable on the transfer of land or
shares is 5% and 10% for a mining right. ALSO
NOTE PTT on land , shares and mining rights is
paid by the SELLER.

Realised Value Section 5

Explains the value of the property liable to PTT – which for
(a) land - is the open market value
(b) Share - issued by company incorporated in Zambia
is the open market value or nominal price
whichever is greater
(c) Issued by a company incorporated outside Zambia
– the nominal value
(d) Mining rights – the actual price of that mining right
or interest or as determined by the Commissioner
General whichever is higher.
(e) Intellectual Property – again the actual price of the
intellectual property or as determined by the
Commissioner General whichever is higher.
Section 5 (4) speaks to transfer to immediate family
with special emphasis on term Immediate family
referring to “a spouse, a child a duly adopted child or
step-child”

Section 5 (5) speaks to transfer of property within a

group of companies for purposes of internal re-
organisation of the group the Commissioner General
may treat such transfer as having no realized value.
Whilst transfer between group of companies that have
been members of a group for less than 3 years will not
be considered by the Commissioner General for any
relief for PTT purposes.

EXEMPTIONS – SECTION 6
Lists different organizations that are exempt from PTT
including shares or stocks that are listed on a stock
exchange and are duly registered under the Securities
Act (the Lusaka Securities Exchange are exempt from
PTT

Section 10 speaks to Objections or appeal by any

affected person. They should be made in writing stating
the grounds for objections. If grounds are not
satisfactory assessment will be upheld. However a
taxpayer has a right to appeal to the Tax Appeals
Tribunal should they be dissatisfied with the
Commissioner generals determination.
Section 11 (1) speaks to the payment of tax which is
due within 14 days of the date of issue of assessment
Section 11 (2 -3 ) speaks to the penalties of late
payment
Section 12 speaks to refund of tax paid for instance if
transaction is aborted for various reasons after tax has
been paid and tax clearance certificate issued.

Zambia does not have a capital gain tax regime and as

such capital gains are not subject to tax
Open market value – is the estimated amount that a
property would sell for between a willing buyer and a
willing seller on the date of the valuation.