Team on the ground
Our African payroll specialists configure and run your Tanzanian payroll — one team, one accountable contract.
Popay Payroll · Tanzania PopayPayroll
Payroll in Tanzania, built for compliance.
PAYE, NSSF, WCF and SDL across the mainland and Zanzibar — automated to Tanzanian law inside our own engine, not bolted on.
Local Tanzania team. The people who configure and run your payroll know Tanzanian law from the inside — PAYE, NSSF, the Employment and Labour Relations Act, and the 2026 sectoral minimum wages.
Talk to our African payroll team No commitment — a working conversation about your team in Tanzania.
TZ
TZ Dar es Salaam · East Africa — payroll live in Tanzania today
Understand HR in Tanzania
Everything Tanzania payroll asks of an employer — in one place.
The full local picture for Tanzania: statutory contributions and the rules our engine runs natively — maintained by our Pan-African legislation team.
01 · At a glance
Tanzania payroll, by the numbers
The fixed parameters every Tanzania payroll run starts from.
CAPITAL
Dodoma
Currency
Tanzanian Shilling (TZS, TSh)
Official language
Swahili (Kiswahili) and English
Statutory Authorities
TRA — Tanzania Revenue Authority (mainland); ZRB in Zanzibar
Income tax year
1 January – 31 December (calendar year)
Payroll cycle
Monthly
Monthly statutory deadlines
PAYE + SDL to the TRA by the 7th; NSSF by the end of the following month
Minimum wage
Set by sector — TZS 175,000 to approx. TZS 765,900 / month (2025 Order, from 1 January 2026)
Ordinary working week
Max 45 hours (9 hours/day, up to 6 days)
MAIN LABOUR LAW
Employment and Labour Relations Act (ELRA), R.E. 2023; Labour Institutions Act, 2004
02 · Statutory obligations & contributions
Statutory contributions in Tanzania
Employers register and pay contributions to several statutory bodies — the NSSF for social security, the WCF for work-related accidents, and the SDL to the TRA — each with its own rate and its own base.
| Scheme | Employer | Employee | Basis & notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSSF — National Social Security Fund | 10% | 10% | On pensionable wages/remuneration, no ceiling |
| SDL — Skills Development Levy | 3.5% | 0% | On gross emoluments, no ceiling |
| WCF — Workers' Compensation Fund | 0.5% | 0% | Of the gross wage bill |
03 · Income tax (PAYE)
PAYE — Tanzania's progressive income tax
Employment income is taxed under a progressive five-band scale and withheld each month by the employer, with the employee's NSSF contribution deducted before PAYE is calculated.
Monthly PAYE bands (mainland)
- Up to 270,000 TZS
- 0% (tax-free)
- 270,001 – 520,000 TZS
- 8% of the amount above 270,000
- 520,001 – 760,000 TZS
- 20,000 + 20% of the amount above 520,000
- 760,001 – 1,000,000 TZS
- 68,000 + 25% of the amount above 760,000
- Above 1,000,000 TZS
- 128,000 + 30% of the amount above 1,000,000
How PAYE is applied
- Order of deduction
- The employee's NSSF contribution (10%) is deducted before PAYE is calculated
- Non-resident employees
- Taxed at a flat 15% on employment income
- Remittance
- Withheld monthly and paid to the TRA by the 7th of the following month
- Zanzibar
- Applies its own scale; figures above are for mainland Tanzania
04 · Employment contracts & other terms
Contracts under the Employment and Labour Relations Act
The ELRA recognises three types of contract and sets the written particulars, probation period, notice and severance-pay rules that your payroll system must apply.
Contract types
Specific task / Fixed term (professionals & managerial cadre only) / Unspecified period (permanent)
Written particulars
The employer must give the employee a written statement of the key terms of employment
Probation
Commonly up to 6 months — unfair-termination provisions do not apply to employees with less than 6 months' employment with the same employer, but other labour protections and contractual obligations remain in force
Notice — first month
7 days
Notice — daily or weekly-paid
4 days (after the first month of employment)
Notice — monthly-paid
28 days, in writing (same for employer and employee)
Severance pay
At least 7 days' basic wage per completed year of continuous service (up to 10 years). Applies only after at least 12 months' service and to qualifying terminations.
Working hours & overtime
9 hours/day, 45 hours/week, max 6 days; daily maximum 12 hours inclusive of overtime; overtime at 1.5x (capped at 50 hours per 4-week cycle)
05 · Leave & employee rights
Leave entitlements set by the ELRA
The law sets statutory minimums for annual, sick, maternity and paternity leave; contracts and collective agreements can improve on them.
Annual leave
28 consecutive days per 12-month leave cycle. On full pay; inclusive of any public holidays falling within the leave.
Sick leave
Up to 126 days per 36-month cycle. First 63 days on full pay, next 63 days on half pay. After 6 months' service; medical certificate required.
Maternity leave
84 days (100 days for multiple births). On full pay. Notify the employer 3 months in advance with a medical certificate.
Paternity leave
3 days per 36-month cycle. Taken within 7 days of the birth; the employee must be the father of the child.
Compassionate leave
4 paid days per 36-month leave cycle, Subject to reasonable proof of the event.
Public holidays
Around 16 per year. Paid; premium pay applies if worked.
06 · Unions & collective agreements
The sector union and collective agreement that apply to you
Tanzania's single national federation is TUCTA (Zanzibar has ZATUC). Its sector affiliates negotiate the pay scales, allowances and union-dues deductions (stop orders) that your payroll must calculate and remit — disputes fall to the CMA.
TUICO — Industry & commerce
The largest TUCTA affiliate. Negotiates sector wage scales and the union-dues stop orders your payroll must deduct and remit.
TPAWU — Plantations & agriculture
Sets sector wage agreements and dues deductions for plantation and agricultural workers.
TAMICO — Mines, energy & construction
Negotiates sector settlements; drives provident-fund and union-dues deductions.
TUGHE — Government & health
Covers public-service pay scales and the related payroll deductions.
COTWU(T) — Communication & transport
Negotiates sector agreements and dues stop orders for communications and transport workers.
CHODAWU — Hotels, domestic & conservation
Sets hospitality and domestic-work wage scales feeding into payroll.
Native Tanzania payroll — and one accountable partner.
We own the gross-to-net engine
PAYE, NSSF, WCF and SDL rules are configured natively inside our engine, not stitched from third-party aggregators.
Always current
Regulatory changes — like the 2026 Minimum Wage Order and the Finance Act 2025 — are monitored and your configuration updated, so every payslip stays compliant.
Take 30 minutes with our Tanzania HR specialist.
Tell us about your team in Tanzania and we'll map your options — payroll, contracts and local compliance — plainly and without commitment.
Popay helped us simplify managing our workforce in Tanzania — payroll, PAYE and NSSF filings, contracts and compliance in one place. Reliable, efficient, and always current with local law.
Tanzania payroll, answered
Does Popay handle NSSF, WCF and SDL in Tanzania?
Yes. Our payroll system calculates the applicable statutory contributions, including NSSF (10% employer + 10% employee), the WCF levy (0.5%) and SDL (3.5% for employers with 10+ staff), along with PAYE. The system supports accurate calculation and timely processing of these statutory obligations.
How does PAYE work in Tanzania?
Employment income is taxed on a five-band progressive scale from 0% up to 30%, withheld monthly. The employee's 10% NSSF contribution is deducted before PAYE is calculated, and non-resident employees are taxed at a flat 15%. Figures are for mainland Tanzania; Zanzibar applies its own scale.
Is your Tanzania payroll native, or run through a third party?
Native. Popay owns the gross-to-net engine, and Tanzanian legislation — PAYE bands, NSSF, WCF, SDL and the Employment and Labour Relations Act payslip rules — is configured inside it. There's one accountable system and one contract, not stitched-together aggregators.
Are you updated for the 2026 Minimum Wage Order?
Yes. The Minimum Wage Order took effect in January 2026, resetting sector-specific wage floors from TZS 175,000 to roughly TZS 765,900 per month. Our configuration tracks the sectoral rates so your payslips stay compliant.
Which unions and collective agreements do you support?
The TUCTA affiliates that set sector pay — TUICO (industry & commerce), TPAWU (plantations & agriculture), TAMICO (mines, energy & construction), TUGHE (government & health), COTWU(T) (communication & transport) and CHODAWU (hospitality & domestic) — with their wage scales, allowances and union-dues stop orders applied to your payroll.
Review your HR needs in Tanzania — in 30 minutes.
Questions about payroll, local compliance or digitising your processes? Take a no-commitment slot with our dedicated Tanzania payroll team. Plain, specific, useful.
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