How is crypto taxed in Tanzania?

Crypto tax in Tanzania is built around a withholding tax rather than a separate crypto income tax. Since July 1, 2024, a person who runs a digital asset exchange platform, or facilitates digital asset transfers, must keep back 3% of what it pays a Tanzanian resident and pass it to the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA). The TRA's 2025/2026 tax guide lists no other crypto-specific rate.

How does crypto tax in Tanzania work?

The Finance Act 2024 changed the Income Tax Act in two ways. It added "digital asset" to the law's definition of an asset. It also inserted a new section 83C on withholding for payments to owners of digital assets.

The Act defines a digital asset broadly. It covers anything of value that is intangible and can be stored, transferred or exchanged electronically, including cryptocurrencies, token codes, digitally held numbers generated by cryptographic means, and NFTs. EY noted that the definition aims to bring the digital economy into the tax net.

What is the Tanzania digital asset tax?

It is a 3% withholding tax set in the First Schedule of the Income Tax Act. Under section 83C, it applies when a resident or non-resident person who owns a digital asset exchange platform, or who facilitates an exchange or transfer, makes a payment to a resident for that exchange or transfer.

The tax is charged on the payment, defined as the gross fair market value received or receivable at the point of exchange or transfer. It is not a tax on profit. The TRA's 2025/2026 guide lists the rate for payments to residents only, and says the withholding statement and payment are due by the 7th day of the following month. The Act does not say whether the 3% is a final tax. Clyde & Co's review of the Finance Act 2026, effective July 1, 2026, did not mention any change to digital asset taxation.

How a trader works out their own cost basis or reports other crypto income is not spelled out in the TRA guide, so records of each trade remain important.

Is cryptocurrency legal in Tanzania?

The position is mixed, as set out in is crypto legal in Tanzania. EY pointed out that the Bank of Tanzania's 2019 circular against trading and using virtual currencies could make the new tax hard to apply.

The tax rules have affected the legal debate. In December 2024 the High Court, in Yellow Card Tanzania Limited v. Nyamwero Michael Nyamwero, held that trading crypto is not illegal, reasoning that people dealing in digital assets have been paying tax, Bowmans reported.

What is next for Tanzania cryptocurrency rules?

The Citizen reported on July 30, 2026 that the Bank of Tanzania had assessed the virtual assets sector and developed a regulatory concept that could bring cryptocurrencies and stablecoins under oversight. No framework had been published as of October 2026. Compare Tanzania with other systems in crypto tax around the world.

Rules differ by country and change often. Check the tax authority or a qualified professional for your own situation.