Tax
Code général des impôts with 18% VAT and a 30% corporate rate
VAT is 18%, the standard WAEMU rate. Corporate income tax is 30%, reduced to 25% for industrial companies. Benin taxes residents on worldwide income and applies the WAEMU common external tariff on imports.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The Direction Générale des Impôts assesses; disputes go to the administrative chamber of the Cour suprême.
- Deadline — Corporate return: 30 April following the financial year
- Deadline — VAT return and payment: by the 10th of the following month
Governing law
- Code général des impôts
- Loi de financesannual
- Règlement UEMOA n° 08/2008/CM relatif à l'harmonisation de la TVA
In practice
Benin's tax base is dominated by trade with Nigeria, much of it informal, which is why re-export and transit taxation matters more here than the headline rates suggest. WAEMU directives constrain Benin's freedom to set VAT and excise, harmonising them across the eight-member monetary union.