Tanzania exempts mining framework-agreement construction supplies from VAT, until production starts

What changed in detail

Section 92 of Tanzania’s Finance Act, 2026 (Act No. 2 of 2026) amends section 6 of the Value Added Tax Act (Cap. 148), adding a new exemption paragraph. It covers importation by, or supply to, a holder of a mining licence or special mining licence that has a framework agreement with the Government, where the Government has an ownership interest in the mining activities and the agreement itself provides for VAT exemption on the goods or services it specifies. The exemption reaches only goods or services used exclusively for construction of the mining project, and it ceases immediately on commencement of production. The framework agreement must have been approved by the Cabinet. The change took effect 1 July 2026.

What it means

Three separate conditions have to hold at once — a qualifying licence, a Cabinet-approved framework agreement that Government co-owns and that itself names the VAT exemption, and spend that is genuinely construction rather than operating cost. Miss any one and the supply is taxable. The exemption also has a hard stop: it ends the moment the project starts producing, so a mining operator needs to track that trigger date as carefully as it tracks eligible spend, since VAT that was exempt on Monday can be taxable on Tuesday with no further legislative action required.