In his supplementary budget, the Minister of Finance, Mthuli Ncube, announced that from there on mobile money customers would be charged the 2% IMT tax, now colloquially known as the Mthuli tax.

Econet has not wasted time to come up with new applicable tariffs. This is because the tax is to be paid by both the agent and the person who is cashing out.

New cashout fees

Lower LimitUpper LimitFeeFee unregistered
2.005.000.100.42
5.0110.000.450.77
10.0120.000.901.57
20.0130.001.362.40
30.0140.001.853.19
40.0150.002.324.13
50.0160.003.165.79
60.0175.003.686.53
75.01100.004.968.82
100.01150.005.8810.73
150.01200.006.8412.54
200.01300.007.9113.71
300.01400.009.4115.97
400.01500.0010.8518.09

Yes we didn’t pay tax when we cashed out

To be honest it seems every time you move your electronic funds you are taxed. Even I was surprised to learn that the tax was hitherto not payable when you cashed out.

Now you are paying 4% Tax

The effect of the policy is that you went from paying zero tax when cashing out to essentially paying 4% tax. The Minister of Finance would have you believe that you are only paying 2% and the agent is paying 2% but the reality is that businesses always pass the cost to the customer.

The new charges essentially reflect this. In that new cost, you have the taxes factored in.