Tax
Income tax, VAT and zakat as a parallel statutory obligation
The Income Tax Act 1986 and the Value Added Tax Act 1999 form the tax code, administered by the Taxation Chamber. Zakat is separately levied under the Zakat Act as a statutory obligation rather than a voluntary payment.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — National. The Taxation Chamber administers direct and indirect taxes; the Zakat Chamber administers zakat.
Governing law
- Income Tax Act 1986as amended
- Value Added Tax Act 1999
- Zakat Act 2001
- Customs Act 1986
In practice
The distinctive feature is that zakat operates as a compulsory levy administered by a state chamber, collected alongside ordinary taxation from Muslim individuals and businesses on prescribed bases, with proceeds directed to categories of beneficiary specified in Islamic law. That is a genuine parallel obligation rather than a rebranding of income tax, and any description of the Sudanese tax burden that omits it is incomplete. Conventional taxation comprises business profits tax, personal income tax and VAT. Revenue administration was already weak, with heavy dependence on customs and, before 2011, on oil; the loss of southern oil fields at secession removed most of that base. Since 2023 collection, currency stability and the functioning of the Taxation Chamber cannot be verified.