Former Finance Minister Tendai Biti has accused the government of overburdening Zimbabweans with what he described as "toxic" new presumptive taxes that threaten to cripple small businesses and deepen economic hardship.

Posting on X (formerly Twitter) after the publication of Public Notice 51 of 2025, which sets out new tax obligations for informal traders, Biti said the measures were a restatement of punitive provisions already contained in the Finance Act of 2024.

Under the new rules, groups ranging from small-scale miners, taxi and omnibus operators to hairdressers, restaurants, cross-border traders and bottle store owners are required to pay a series of fees -- in some cases as high as US$500 (about R9,400) per month.

Hairdressers will be taxed US$5 per chair each month while cross-border traders face a 20% levy on the duty value of goods imported.

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"Some of the rates are absurd. Zimbabweans are overtaxed," Biti said, warning that the average citizen already pays at least 15 different forms of tax annually from PAYE and VAT to excise duties, levies and toll fees.

He noted that before the economy was rebased Zimbabwe's tax burden stood at around 30% of GDP double Africa's average making it the most heavily taxed nation on the continent.

"These regressive taxes strip working people of disposable income and fuel recession. Coupled with a mismanaged exchange rate, an artificially tight monetary policy and weak investment, the economy is bleeding," Biti said

He called for the presumptive tax regime, including the controversial Intermediated Money Transfer Tax (IMMT) to be scrapped.

Instead, he urged government to promote economic formalisation by supporting small enterprises with capital, registration systems and digitisation.

"The solution to informality lies in building a broad, inclusive formal economy. High taxes only drive avoidance and evasion," he said.