Tanzania’s Finance Act 2024 rewrites VAT exemptions for armed forces, aircraft, VAR equipment, sewerage and tea
This page records one dated change. For the rules in Tanzania as they stand today, see the Tanzania guide →
- Jurisdiction
- Tanzania
- Tax
- VAT
- Change type
- Update
- Status
- In force
- Impact
- FYI
- Announced
- 30 June 2024
- Effective
- 1 July 2024
- Authority
- Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania (Bunge)
- Verified
- Fetched from official source · high confidence
Suppliers to the armed forces, local aircraft manufacturers, assemblers and air operators, water and sanitation authorities, tea processors, sports bodies buying VAR equipment and suppliers of the agricultural implements removed from item 1 in Mainland Tanzania.
No action — monitoring only.
Tanzania Finance Act 2024 (Act No. 6 of 2024, effective 1 July 2024) made multiple amendments to the VAT Act Schedule (Part I): (a) expanded item 18 to cover all goods including machinery and motor vehicles for official use of armed forces (certified by the Minister responsible for defence); (b) extended the aircraft exemption (item 31) to include supply to local manufacturers or assemblers of aircraft; (c) added item 33 (VAR technology equipment, with ministerial approval for sports) and item 34 (sewerage services by water supply authorities); (d) removed VAT exemption on certain agricultural implements (sub-items 6-9 of item 1); (e) added blended tea and fermented tea from locally grown tea leaves (item 3, sub-item 46).
What changed in detail
Section 110 of Tanzania’s Finance Act, 2024 (Act No. 6 of 2024), in force 1 July 2024, amends Part I of the Schedule to the Value Added Tax Act (Cap. 148), the list of exempt supplies:
- Item 1 (agricultural implements): adds HS code 8701.10.00 to sub-item 1 and deletes sub-items 6, 7, 8 and 9.
- Item 3: adds sub-item 46, blended or fermented tea from locally grown tea leaves (HS 0902.30.00, 0902.40.00).
- Item 18: replaced to exempt all goods, including material, supplies, equipment, machinery and motor vehicles, for official use of the armed forces as certified by the Minister responsible for defence.
- Item 25: deletes the word “refineries,”.
- Item 27: extends its period to 1 July 2024 – 30 June 2025.
- Item 31: replaced to exempt aircraft and aircraft maintenance supplied to a local operator of air transportation, and aircraft engines and parts supplied to a local manufacturer or assembler of aircraft or to a local air operator.
- New items 33 and 34: video assistant referee (VAR) technology equipment and accessories, on approval by the Minister responsible for sports; and sewerage services supplied by a water supply and sanitation authority.
What it means
Much of this schedule has since been rewritten. The Finance Act 2025 (Act No. 11 of 2025, s.135) replaced item 1 with a new agricultural-implements table, replaced item 31 again with HS-coded wording (aircraft of heading 88.02, engines of HS 8407.10.00, parts of heading 88.07), and renumbered items 21 to 35 as 20 to 34, so the VAR and sewerage items now sit at 32 and 33. The Finance Act 2026 added aircraft tyres and gas turbines to item 31(b) (see Tanzania’s 2026 schedule revision).
Read the 2024 wording as history: check the current consolidated Schedule, by item and HS code, before relying on any of these exemptions.
Proof
31. Supply of- (a) aircraft and aircraft maintenance to a local operator of air transportation; or (b) aircraft engine and aircraft parts to a local manufacturer or assembler of aircraft or to a local operator of air transportation.
Source snapshot of the official page. Open full size ↗Archived from the official distribution · The Finance Act, 2024 (Act No. 6 of 2024), Act Supplement to the Special Gazette No. 27 Vol. 105 of 30 June 2024 · tra.go.tz