Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)

Taxable period

Companies are required by law to have a 31 December fiscal year-end.

Tax returns

The deadline for filing is 30 June for companies subject to audit requirements and 30 May for other entities.

Taxpayers with a turnover between XOF 5 million and XOF 50 million are taxed under the taxe d'Etat de l'entreprenant and are required to produce electronic, as well as paper, financial statements.

The micro-enterprise scheme is a tax scheme related to taxpayers with turnover between XOF 50 million and XOF 200 million. Micro-enterprises with turnover of at least XOF 100 million can opt for the simplified real taxation scheme or non-commercial income tax regime.

The simplified real taxation scheme (Réel simplifié d'imposition) applies to taxpayers with turnover ranging from XOF 200 million to XOF 500 million. Under the simplified real taxation scheme, annual financial statements have a lighter presentation.

The real taxation scheme applies to taxpayers with a turnover above XOF 500 million. 

Financial statements are filed annually, according to local generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Payment of tax

Payment of CIT is made in three instalments in April, June, and September following the end of the fiscal year, depending on the sector of activity and taxpayer's office, as follows:

• Medium and large-size companies tax office:
  • 10 April, 10 June, and 10 September for industrial, oil and gas, and mining companies.
  • 15 April, 15 June, and 15 September for commercial companies.
  • 20 April, 20 June, and 20 September for service providers.
• Companies with other tax offices:
  • 15 April, 15 June, and 15 September.

Tax audit process

Many types of tax audits are available to the tax administration, which may request any accounting-related document for the purpose of tax audit.

The most common is the general tax audit of the taxpayer’s situation, which covers the statute of limitation period. It is carried out with a notice at least five days before the beginning of the audit. The audit is carried out on the premises of the taxpayer for a maximum of six months (with a possibility to extend for a period of three additional months), and a primary tax assessment is issued.

The taxpayer then has 30 days to agree or challenge the assessment, and the definitive assessment is issued within a maximum of three months following the primary tax assessment notification date.

The definitive tax assessment has to be issued within a maximum of two months for taxpayers with annual turnover up to XOF 500 million.

The tax appendix to the 2023 Finance Law instituted an obligation to digitise tax audits. This obligation to digitise tax audits only concerns the adversarial procedure in the context of in-depth verification of the overall tax situation (VASFE) or accounting checks. The exchange of documents by electronic means between the tax administration and the taxpayers is now mandatory.

Further challenge of the definitive assessment is possible before the head of the tax administration and the court.

Statute of limitations

The statute of limitations covers the current year and the three prior years.

Topics of focus for tax authorities

The tax administration generally focuses on compliance with the CIT filing deadline and on the payment of the instalments.

For consistency of the tax returns, the tax administration focuses on the filing of the additional records (Annual Financial Statements, Etat 301: Annual Salary Statement, Etat 302: Annual Fees Statement), records of the provisions, tax losses, and amortisations carried forward.

During tax audits, the focus is on transactions with non-resident related parties.