We report on a combined experimental and theoretical study of the photodissociation spectroscopy and chemical dynamics of Zn+-formaldehyde. We identify two overlapping absorption bands corresponding to Zn+(4s-4p)-based transitions mixed with charge-transfer character. We observe both nonreactive (Zn+ and H2CO+) and reactive (ZnH+ and HCO+) dissociation products. The work is supported by TD-UB3LYP level ab initio electronic structure calculations of the ground and low-lying excited energy surfaces. On the basis of the experimental and theoretical results, we propose a model for the reactive dissociation that proceeds via H-atom abstraction on the charge-transfer surface. This work shows important differences with results from previous experiments on Mg+- and Ca+-aldehyde complexes despite the similar valence character for these metal ions.