NSSF Penalty Waiver 2026: The 75% Tier Ends 31 October, the Window 31 December

This news brief explains the NSSF penalty waiver as the Fund itself has announced it, the section of the NSSF Act that allows it, what it does not cover, and what an employer with arrears should do in the last ten weeks. It includes a worked example in Tanzanian shillings, a Zanzibar note and a PSSSF comparison.

Who is affected

• Private-sector employers on the Mainland that owe NSSF contributions for any month up to May 2026, or that carry old penalties on their NSSF account.
• Finance and payroll teams that inherited arrears after a restructuring, an acquisition or a change of payroll provider.
• Employers who deducted the employee share but did not remit it, because that money is held on trust for the employee and carries criminal exposure.
• Buyers and investors in due diligence, who should know whether a target's NSSF penalties can still be cut before the year ends.
• Employers on Unguja and Pemba, who need to know that this scheme is not theirs.

Public-service employers contribute to PSSSF instead, and our guide on PSSSF versus NSSF explains which fund applies.

What changed: the 2026 NSSF penalty waiver

On 26 June 2026 the Minister of State responsible for labour, Deus Sangu, urged employers at the general meeting of the Association of Tanzania Employers to use the waiver. HabariLeo reported that the NSSF Director General, Masha Mshomba, put the window at 1 June to 31 December 2026 (HabariLeo, 26 June 2026). The Citizen carried the same dates on 27 June 2026.

The Fund's own news page gives the tiers. In its 5 July 2026 release from the Sabasaba trade fair, the Director General set out three bands by date of payment of principal debts. A second NSSF release of the same day quoted the Director of Operations, Omary Mziya, saying the waiver runs until December 2026.

On 17 July 2026 the Director General briefed the press in Dar es Salaam. He said more than 6,000 employers had used the waiver and that NSSF had collected over TZS 46 billion of principal since 1 June. The Daily News and The Guardian reported the briefing on 20 July 2026.

The most recent official reminder came on 10 October 2026. Tanga Regional Commissioner Batilda Burian urged employers with arrears to use the waiver before 31 December 2026 (Mwananchi, 10 October 2026). We found no Government Notice for the scheme. It is an administrative remission by the Fund, not a change to the Act.

What the law says: section 14 of the NSSF Act

The governing statute is the National Social Security Fund Act, Cap. 50 R.E. 2023, published by the Fund. Five provisions matter here.

• Section 6(1): the Act applies in Mainland Tanzania, to private-sector employees, the self-employed, foreigners employed on the Mainland and staff of international organisations there.
• Section 12(1) and the First Schedule: the employer pays a contribution of 20% of wages, made up of the employer's and the employee's shares. The employee share deductible from wages is ten cents per shilling, or 10%.
• Section 14(1): contributions are payable within one month after the end of the month to which they relate.
• Section 14(3): a sum equal to 5% of the amount unpaid is added as a penalty for each month or part of a month. The penalty is recoverable as a debt to the Fund. The Board "may, where it thinks fit, remit in whole or in part any penalty".
• Section 76: failing to pay contributions within the prescribed period is an offence. On conviction the fine is up to TZS 10,000,000, or imprisonment up to two years, or both, and prosecution needs the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The waiver therefore rests on the Board's remission power in section 14(3). That power reaches penalties only. Nothing in section 14 lets the Board waive the contributions themselves, which belong to the members' accounts.

The NSSF payment of contributions page adds the permitted splits. The employee share may not exceed 10%, the split may be 10/10 or 15/5, and an employer may pay the full 20% itself. The Zatra fee register carries this as F0279 and the 5% monthly penalty as F0446.

How much is waived, and by when?

The tiers depend on when the employer pays its principal arrears. The NSSF release words the trigger as paying principal debts within the band. The 17 July briefing, as reported, words it as clearing all principal arrears by the band's end date. Plan on the stricter reading.

The fee register records the scheme as F0447. The Fund has not published a list of excluded employers or arrears periods, so we treat the scheme as open to every Mainland contributing employer with arrears or penalties.

What does the waiver not cover?

The scheme is narrow, and several costs survive it.

• Principal contributions. Every shilling of the 20% must be paid. The waiver is the reward for paying it.
• Penalties on late current months. An employer who clears its arrears and then pays November late should expect the ordinary 5% to apply to that month.
• Other payroll charges. WCF contributions, the Skills and Development Levy and PAYE are separate regimes with their own penalties. TRA interest and penalties are explained in our guide to TRA penalties and interest.
• PSSSF and ZSSF arrears. They are different funds under different Acts, discussed below.
• Criminal exposure already under way. The Fund's statements do not say that paying under the waiver ends a prosecution or a summary suit already filed. That question goes to an advocate.

Interest is a point to confirm. Section 14(3) imposes a penalty, not interest, and the NSSF releases speak only of tozo. If your statement shows a separate interest line, ask the Fund in writing whether the waiver reaches it.

What does an employer with no principal arrears get?

Some employers paid every contribution but paid several months late, so their account shows penalties and no principal. NSSF's July briefing said these employers qualify for a 100% waiver if they had no principal arrears at 31 May 2026. The condition is that monthly contributions are submitted accurately and on time to the end of December 2026.

That makes the next ten weeks of payroll the test. One late month in November or December could cost the whole remission. Set the payment date for each month well ahead of the end of the following month, and keep the GePG receipt and the contribution schedule together.

How do you apply for the waiver?

The Fund has not published an application form for the 2026 waiver, and none of the statements we read describes one. The working route, based on how the Fund collects contributions, is as follows.

1. Obtain a statement of the employer's account from the NSSF regional office or the employer portal, showing principal and penalty by month.
2. Reconcile it against payroll records, and dispute any wrong month in writing before paying.
3. Ask the office in writing for the control number for the principal only, and for confirmation of the waiver tier that will apply.
4. Pay through GePG and deliver the contribution schedule. The payment page says the supporting document NSSF/CON.05 must reach the NSSF office promptly.
5. Ask for a written confirmation that the penalty has been remitted, and file it with the payroll records.

The Fund's published contacts are [email protected] and the toll-free line 0800 116 773. Instalment arrangements for principal arrears are not mentioned in any release. An employer that cannot pay in one sum should ask the regional office in writing whether staged payments within the window keep the tier.

Worked example: a Dar es Salaam employer with five months of arrears

This example is hypothetical. A logistics company in Dar es Salaam has 12 employees and a monthly contributory wage bill of TZS 18,000,000. It uses the 10/10 split, so the monthly contribution is TZS 3,600,000 (F0279). Cash flow broke in early 2026, and it did not remit January to May 2026. Principal arrears are 5 x 3,600,000 = TZS 18,000,000.

Each month falls due one month after its end, so January was due by 28 February and is late from March. We count 5% simple penalty per month or part month on each unpaid month (F0446). The Fund's statement governs the real figure.

How the 150% arises. At 31 October, January is 8 months late (40%), February 7 (35%), March 6 (30%), April 5 (25%) and May 4 (20%). The five rates add to 150% of one month's contribution. At 31 December each month carries two more months, so the total is 200%.

What the dates are worth. Paying in October rather than December saves TZS 2,250,000. Paying in October rather than missing the window saves TZS 6,750,000.

The trust point. If the company deducted the employee 10% from wages, TZS 9,000,000 of the arrears is employee money held on trust under section 13. That half should be paid first, whatever else is deferred.

We have assumed that penalties keep accruing during the window and that the tier applies to the penalty at the date of settlement. Neither point is spelled out in the releases, so confirm both against the Fund's statement.

What happens after 31 December 2026?

The Fund's June statement, reported by the Daily News via allAfrica on 8 June 2026, said normal enforcement and penalty provisions apply after the deadline. In practice that means three things.

• The 5% monthly penalty runs in full on every unpaid month, with no remission unless the Board grants one.
• Recovery by summary suit under section 19 of the Act, and section 79(2) allows recovery within twelve years of the due date.
• Prosecution under section 76, with the DPP's consent, and a court may order unpaid contributions with interest or penalty.

Waivers are not annual. The last general amnesty ran from 1 October 2021, with 100%, 75% and 50% tiers ending between November 2021 and January 2022, and also relied on section 14(3) (law firm note, 8 October 2021). An employer should not plan on a 2027 scheme.

Does the waiver apply in Zanzibar?

No. Section 6(1) confines the NSSF Act to Mainland Tanzania. Employers on Unguja and Pemba contribute to the Zanzibar Social Security Fund, which ZSSF describes as established by Act No. 2 of 1998 and re-enacted by Act No. 2 of 2005. ZSSF sets its own rates and penalties under Zanzibar law.

We found no ZSSF penalty waiver announced for 2026. A Zanzibar employer with ZSSF arrears should not rely on the NSSF scheme and should ask ZSSF directly. A group with staff on both sides of the Union needs two reconciliations and two payment plans.

How does PSSSF compare?

For how the two Mainland funds turn contributions into pensions, see our NSSF and PSSSF pension calculation guide.

Why does the employee care?

Unremitted contributions leave gaps in a member's record, and the Fund links slow benefit payments mainly to late employer remittances. The Guardian reported that claims are usually paid within 20 days, although the law allows up to 60. An employee whose statement shows missing months can raise it with the Fund, and the employer will then face the arrears with less time to plan.

For employers, clean NSSF records also support the compliance letters that tender boards, lenders and buyers ask for. Our employer registration guide lists the other statutory accounts a Mainland employer keeps.

What to do now

1. Pull the statement. Get the NSSF account statement this week and list principal and penalty by month.
2. Reconcile payroll. Match each month to payroll, correct leavers and joiners, and challenge errors in writing.
3. Decide the tier. If principal can be found by 31 October, pay it for the 75% tier; otherwise plan for 50% by 31 December.
4. Pay the trust money first. Remit any employee share already deducted before anything else.
5. Get confirmation in writing. Ask the regional office to confirm the tier and, after payment, the remitted penalty.
6. Keep current months clean. Pay November and December contributions early, because the conditions turn on on-time payment.
7. Check Zanzibar and PSSSF separately. Raise any ZSSF or PSSSF arrears with that fund; this scheme does not reach them.
8. Brief an advocate on live actions. If a summary suit, demand or prosecution notice already exists, take advice before paying.

Key dates

How Zatra helps

Zatra reconciles NSSF statements against payroll, computes principal and penalty by month, and models each tier so the board can choose a payment date. We prepare the correspondence with the regional office and keep the evidence file. Our payroll compliance service runs the monthly cycle afterwards, and our HR consulting team handles the employee side. The wider process is in our payroll compliance guide.

Costs come in two separate buckets. Contributions and any remaining penalty are paid to NSSF at the official amount against its control number. Zatra's professional fee is quoted on its own line and never mixed with them. Zatra prepares and corresponds, but does not decide or guarantee any authority's outcome. Disputes, summary suits, prosecution and formal legal opinions go to an advocate.

Sources and status

Accurate as at 24 October 2026.

• National Social Security Fund Act, Cap. 50 R.E. 2023: NSSF; ss.6, 12, 13, 14, 19, 76, 79 and First Schedule. Accessed 24 Oct 2026.
• NSSF release on the waiver tiers: NSSF, 5 Jul 2026. Accessed 24 Oct 2026.
• NSSF release, Director of Operations: NSSF, 5 Jul 2026. Accessed 24 Oct 2026.
• NSSF payment of contributions page: NSSF, undated. Accessed 24 Oct 2026.
• NSSF urges employers to seize penalty waiver: Daily News, 20 Jul 2026. Accessed 24 Oct 2026.
• RC Tanga reminder: Mwananchi, 10 Oct 2026. Accessed 24 Oct 2026.
• Zatra fee register lines F0279, F0280, F0446, F0447 and NEW-02-28: fees at 26 Sep 2026. Accessed 24 Oct 2026.

Figures to confirm before you act

• Tier trigger: whether a tier needs all principal cleared by the band's end, or payment started within it
• On-time condition: December 2026 (press briefing) or January 2027 (NSSF release)
• Instalments: whether staged payments inside the window keep the tier
• Interest: whether any interest line on a statement is covered
• Penalty arithmetic: how the Fund counts months and whether penalties stop accruing once the window opens
• Live actions: the effect of payment on a summary suit or prosecution already filed
• ZSSF: current Zanzibar rates, penalties and any ZSSF relief
• PSSSF: the 1.5% late-remittance rule after the 2024 amendment

This article is general information based on official sources available at the date of publication. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Laws and notices change. Verify with the issuing authority or consult Zatra before acting.