Zimbabwe 15.5% VAT on game fees

gregrn43 said:

ok
The outfitter we're using in south Africa has never mentioned anything about a tax. There is so much I don't know about hunting out of the country.

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South Africa VAT is 15% on daily rates and non-exported trophies. Some outfitters include it in daily rates some add it on. You’ll have to get clarification.

Rare Breed said:

Thanks! When I bought my hunts I just saw the totals which was covered in “fees”. Curious if I am understanding everyone correctly why does the vat run so high for non exportable versus exportable? Am I understanding that correct please?

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VAT only applies to items or services bought and used in county not exported items. I’ve never done it but tourists can claim VAT refunds in certain countries for items they are taking out of country. It’s the reason you walk through duty free stores when leaving a country in airport.

15% on a less expensive country to hunt, AND not being hit by jihaddis (Moz) is probably worth it. That country is a disaster, and has been for quite some time. LOL Look what happened to Wally Johnson!

*Friends/Neighbors originally from Moz. They would go to visit friends/relatives, but NOT any more (and they lived there!) Zambia, N/P! Like Johnson et. al. one of my Zim PH's fam owned sugar estates over the border and they were all lost to the gov't. (and then same in Zim under you know who RIP lol, but he got his land back there!)

gregrn43 said:

ok
The outfitter we're using in south Africa has never mentioned anything about a tax. There is so much I don't know about hunting out of the country.

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It's best to clarify with your outfitter.

What I've found is if the outfitter mainly caters to US Hunters its pretty common for them to build the VAT into the price and you never have to worry about it. They'll often list that under "included", and have a small asterisk on the trophy fee price list about it for non-exported trophies. Sometimes auction hunts will have it as a "not included" line item.

Conversely I've found outfitters who cater to a lot of European clients normally list it separately. I think it goes back to what @375Fox said it being pretty standard in Europe and other parts of the world and they're used to it being much higher than US Sales Tax.

Another thing I've found interesting about outfitters and what cultural clients they target is their pricing structure. Since tipping isn't as common in other areas of the world, I've seen some differences between safari outfitters that primarily target European clients vs American clients. I know of at least one South African Outfitter that has an American Price List and a European Price List, but someone like @Muskox who's been to a bunch of European and American Hunting shows might be able to better comment on that.

375Fox said:

VAT only applies to items or services bought and used in county not exported items. I’ve never done it but tourists can claim VAT refunds in certain countries for items they are taking out of country. It’s the reason you walk through duty free stores when leaving a country in airport.

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Got it thanks! Never understood it before

Mtn_Infantry said:

It's best to clarify with your outfitter.

What I've found is if the outfitter mainly caters to US Hunters its pretty common for them to build the VAT into the price and you never have to worry about it. They'll often list that under "included", and have a small asterisk on the trophy fee price list about it for non-exported trophies. Sometimes auction hunts will have it as a "not included" line item.

Conversely I've found outfitters who cater to a lot of European clients normally list it separately. I think it goes back to what @375Fox said it being pretty standard in Europe and other parts of the world and they're used to it being much higher than US Sales Tax.

Another thing I've found interesting about outfitters and what cultural clients they target is their pricing structure. Since tipping isn't as common in other areas of the world, I've seen some differences between safari outfitters that primarily target European clients vs American clients. I know of at least one South African Outfitter that has an American Price List and a European Price List, but someone like @Muskox who's been to a bunch of European and American Hunting shows might be able to better comment on that.

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That’s exactly what is in my next two hunts, “included”

We in the USA don't have VAT. We have sales tax. VAT clearly was set at CN levels of 15% (when adding up all their BS taxes that pay the way for what we term, N-N CA/Euro policies! and as Andre says, Plus Gratuity in cities/hotels-some of it is added BS. Buyer beware.) ~20%-30% in most Euro countries. I recall vividly doing a job in Ajax, ON years back (they charged the entire crew, under NAFTA $250 ea. at the border to get a non-resident short term work visa to do a highly specialized job no locals could do, then at lunch, we were pressed for time so 'went to the eq. of BK to grab all the workers some grub...(it's all tax-deductable expense, so in the end IDGAF, but I look at the bill and I'm like $40USD for 4 f'n cheeseburgers c. 2 decades ago! LOL LMAO The bill should've been inverted "the CN gov't food pyramid scheme!" tax tax tax tax tax local tax parking spot paint tax non lib tax et. al. The f'n burgers cost like $4 ea and the tax was $6 ea. You KNOW it's F'd up (gov't.) when you see that. We rented cars and drove home to avoid that BS as much as possible upon departure! I like CN and I like its people (most) but the gov't. OMG it's N-W Coast US! I once came the proverbial "this close" to marrying a gal from up there, but she didn't want to come down to the US (big fam ties). Dealbreaker! lol *I should've referred her to defector Ontario! lol I have no qualms about giving an additional $1K for an African Safari. I might have qualms about how that money is actually utilized...

RB: to answer your question...non-exportable benefits the people much more (everything belongs to them and as per the greats, it has value on the ground, at home. LOL of course the gov't owns tusks...it's their gold, in a vault..until...LOL) It's a great way to hunt all the way round! My Son/I decided a long time ago...less taxidermy at home, MORE tribal own-use hunts. Too many plusses (I can go on add'l. hunts in diff countries with the savings, for starters! (Not as many hands in the pot afterward, when I have my busy life to get back to.) Not voting for the Bidens, et. al. (CA/OR/WA/MN/NY/NJ)-total joke like Moz) also saves a pile! We are still dealing with fallout from that retard, that essentially turned his cocked-blind eyes to widespread corp. rip-offs. After him, I saw very few prices go down (and they rose exorbitantly-criminally.) What I love is when EU product prices doubled (due to the exchange rate,) BUT they never went down when it turned around. Rip-off artists at ev turn...Buyer beware. $1K added to a great Zim safari? N/P! I would think that's disclosed in the very beginning-not reading it would be on You. My NY/NJ clients would want a fixed-price in the beginning-anything extra is on Me (I'd just round up and charge them a higher price to make them feel as good as they can.) LOL

375Fox said:

It’s pretty common everywhere in world unfortunately. European VAT is 20-25% depending on country. However, some countries it’s more standard to have built into price others it’s more standard as an additional charge. US sales tax is very low in comparison.

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Yeah… when you see these Spain hunts, as example, on auction…they go super cheap but that’s driven by the 20%+ VAT on a high stated donation value.
20% is a major difference

In my bus, we exclude gov't fees as they are truly a moving target! We explicitly state it in the contract, but it's extra...read over your contract, etc. But, 1K? I had Biden's (85K extra-on U$) henchmen approach me for 100x that! It's a non-issue.

375Fox said:

The 15% VAT is new for 2026. Outfitter’s are still learning how it needs applied. I haven’t heard of applying it to Trophy fees though. Really unfortunate for Zimbabwe because it makes it less competitive compared to Mozambique and Zambia pricing now.

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Zambia has the GMA fees let’s not forget on top of VAT. That really adds up. When I wanted to take my son and you look at pricing for two…the GMA fees are another $7K. That’s a LOT
Moz…not sure it’s comparable on price except Buffalo maybe
Niassa is high end in terms of quality and price… No cats or Elephant basically anywhere else so those are out (certainly in terms of exportable)
The Caprivi ain’t cheap either I suppose

This will NOT do our friends in Zim any favors..,that’s for sure. Many of the top areas are already disappearing. They need to be competitive

kpoynter said:

Niassa is high end in terms of quality and price… No cats or Elephant basically anywhere else so those are out (certainly in terms of exportable).

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Not sure what you meant by this. Correct that ele are not exportable from Moz but there are lots of leopards on the opposite end of the country from Niassa, quality is very high and they are exportable. One of our sponsors @PANTHER TRACKERS specializes in this. This hunt report was just posted and I will be there next year chasing cats with Gavin.