The Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania has tabled the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, 2026, published on 15 January 2026 to amend various laws. If passed, it will introduce significant changes to Tanzania’s legal framework.

The Bill proposes amendments to twenty-one (21) laws. The major proposed changes are highlighted below.

1. Amendment of the Anti-Money Laundering Act

• The Bill proposes to amend section 3 by introducing definitions for the terms “foreign politically exposed person” and “domestic politically exposed person,” and by replacing the term “politically exposed person” with “domestic or foreign politically exposed person.” This amendment is intended to broaden the scope of the provision to cover circumstances involving money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing linked to both domestic and foreign politically exposed persons.
• The Bill proposes to amend section 15 of the Act to extend the period for updating the risk assessment from once a year to once every three years, to align with international standards on risk assessment updates.
• The bill proposes the amendment of section 16 of the Act to distinguish the manner of conducting due diligence on foreign and domestic exposed persons to enable reporting persons to effectively perform customer due diligence according to the prescribed legal requirement.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 18 of the Act by adding section 18A to provide circumstances under which designated Non-Financial Business Professionals, such as an advocate, notary public, other legal professional or accountant, shall report suspicious transactions of their clients when engaging in any of the activities listed under the proposed amendment.

2. Amendment of the Bank of Tanzania Act, Cap. 197

• The bill proposes an amendment to section 69 of the Act by repealing the section and replacing it to outline the conditions under which the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) may advance short-term loans to the Government in case of unforeseen or unavoidable events that cause a temporary deficiency of revenues. Some unforeseeable and unavoidable events include disasters, states of emergency, public health emergencies, economic events, circumstances, or causes.

3. Amendment of the Business Names Act, Cap. 213

• The bill proposes an amendment to section 2 of the Act that introduces the definition of the term “Designated Non-Financial Business Professional” to mean a casino dealer, including Internet and ship-based casinos, real estate agents, dealers in precious metals and stones, advocates, notaries public, other independent legal professionals, accountants or company service providers.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 6 of the Act by deleting the words “and beneficial owners” and substituting for them the words “designated non-financial business professional or beneficial owners”, which means that the Designated Non-Financial Business Professionals, among other persons, are obliged to submit information concerning beneficial ownership.
• The bill proposes the amendment of section 21 of the Act to include a reporting person as a person eligible to have access to information concerning beneficial ownership.

4. Amendment of the Companies Act, Cap. 212

• The bill proposes an amendment to section 2 of the Act to add new definitions in the Act, including the term “Nominee”, “Nominator” “, Nominee Director” and “Nominee Shareholder”.
• The bill proposes amending Section 8 of the Act by repealing it and replacing it with a provision requiring a company to specify the specific objects it intends to pursue in its business in its memorandum.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 15 of the Act by adding paragraph (c) which introduces the requirements of disclosing a nominee director or shareholder, if any, by updating their accurate and up-to-date records.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 33 of the Act by adding subsection (5), which empowers the Registrar of Companies, after the elapse of notice, to strike off from the register any company failing to change the name of the company which is similar to the name of the existing company.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 118 of the Act, which introduces the requirement for the company to maintain a register of nominee shareholders.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 133 of the Act, which introduces the requirement for the company to state in the annual return the number of paid and unpaid shares of each class held by each member of the company at the date to which the return is made up.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 213 of the Act to introduce the requirement of disclosing the nominee director and maintaining a register of nominee directors.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 220 of the Act by adding section 220A, which empowers the Registrar of Companies to conduct inspections of a company’s records, accounts and other relevant documents at the registered office of the company or any other place where the company’s records are maintained, and he shall perform that duty with or without prior notice.
• The bill proposes an amendment to Section 438 of the Act, which introduces the requirement for foreign companies to submit the shareholders’ and beneficial owners’ information to the Registrar of Companies, as is the case for local companies. The bill imposes this requirement on even foreign companies registered prior to the coming into effect of this requirement, which shall have six months from the date of coming into operation to comply with the requirement.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 440 of the Act by requiring foreign companies making an alteration of their shareholders to incorporate the alteration in their return to be delivered to the Registrar of Companies.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 456 of the Act by adding section 456A which introduces the requirement of the Registrar of Companies to establish and maintain a register of nominee directors and nominee shareholders.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 457 of the Act to allow a reporting person to access information concerning beneficial ownership upon application to the Registrar.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 468 of the Act to empower the Registrar of Companies to issue directives and guidelines in any medium of nationwide circulation and the Registrar’s official website to facilitate the effective implementation of the provisions of the Act.

5. Amendment of the Tanzania Tourist Board Act, Cap. 364

• The bill proposes a general amendment whenever it reads “Managing Director” to be replaced by “Director General”.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 2 by adding various definitions, such as the Director General, the Director of Tourism and the Tourism Facility.
• The bill proposes the amendment of section 5 of the Act by adding functions of the Tanzania Tourist Board relating to tourism facilities and activities to include registering, classifying, and grading tourism facilities, establishing and maintaining registers of tourism facilities and activities, to mention a few.
• The bill proposes amending Paragraph 1 of the Schedule to the Act by refining the composition of the Tanzania Tourist Board to include other individuals on the Board.

6. Amendment of the Tourism Act, Cap. 65

• The bill proposes the general amendment of the term “Director” whenever it appears in the Act and substituting it with the term “Director General”.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 2 of the Act to add the definition of the term “Director General” to mean the Director General of the Tanzania Tourist Board as appointed under the Tanzania Tourist Board Act.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 4 of the Act by repealing the section and replacing it with the provision that establishes the Technical Advisory Committee, which shall advise the Minister for Tourism on matters related to the management and regulation of tourism activities and other matters as the Minister may direct.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 6 of the Act by shifting the operational functions from the Director of Tourism to the Tanzania Tourist Board.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 13 of the Act by removing the requirement to publish in the Gazette once a year or at other intervals as the Minister may direct the list of registered or graded tourism facilities, activities and operators and substituting it with the publication at such intervals as the Minister may direct, publish in a widely circulated newspaper or in any other manner as the Director-General may deem necessary.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 14 of the Act by removing the requirement of paying grading fees payable by operators of tourism facilities.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 16 of the Act by removing the role of the Minister in the cancellation of the registration of a tourism facility or activity to facilitate the effective implementation of the operational functions of the Tanzania Tourist Board.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 17 of the Act by imposing on the Director General the obligation to recommend a facility or activity to be designated as a tourism facility or activity by the Minister.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 34 of the Act by imposing an obligation on the Director General to periodically publish in a widely circulating newspaper or in any other manner as it may deem necessary, a list of tourism operators licenced under the Act.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 36 of the Act by deleting the wording “twelve calendar months” and replacing it with a validity period of a license to be twelve months from the date of issuance of the licence.
• The bill proposes an amendment to section 42 of the Act. Section 42 is proposed to be amended, and Section 43 is proposed to be repealed by removing provisions relating to the requirements and procedures for the registration of tour guides. The provisions are proposed to read that a person shall not carry out activities as a tour guide unless such person is registered by the Director General, and the manner of registration of tour guides shall be prescribed in the regulations.
• The bill proposes an amendment to sections 50 and 53 of the Act by including the words “Director General” in the said provisions with the aim of recognizing rights and protection regarding operational functions vested in the Director General.
• The bill proposes an amendment to the First Schedule by improving the composition of the Technical Advisory Committee and reducing the number of mandatory meetings of the Committee from four to two per annum.

7. Amendment of the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act, Cap. 148

• The bill proposes an amendment to section 88(3)(c) of the Act by reducing the number of days within which the Commissioner General is to decide on the application for VAT tax refunds to thirty days, to reduce the number of days required to process the VAT refund applications.

Other amendments proposed by the Bill extend to several statutes, including the Atomic Energy Act, Civil Aviation Act, Criminal Procedure Act, Drugs Control and Enforcement Act, Institute of Rural Development Planning Act, Institute of Accountancy Arusha Act, Interpretation of Laws Act, National Youth Council Act, Patents (Registration) Act, Prisons Act, Private Health Laboratories (Regulation) Act, Tanzania Library Services Act, and Trade and Service Marks Act.

It is our considered view that, once enacted, the Bill will bring about substantial reforms across multiple sectors, as it proposes amendments to 21 distinct laws. Consequently, it is important for our clients, stakeholders, and the general public to be aware of these changes, given their potential to have wide-ranging impacts throughout the country’s various economic, social and regulatory spheres.