Senegal

Recent changes to the General Tax Code (GTC)

The Finance Law for fiscal year (FY) 2025 has added new provisions to the GTC. 

Key changes of the law are as follows:

Issuance of electronic invoices

The FY25 Finance Law sets the mandatory issuance of electronic invoices via a public invoicing portal or a platform set up by the administration for value-added tax (VAT) payers, under penalty of a fine of 25% of the amount of VAT invoiced or due, capped at 5 million Communauté financière d'Afrique (Financial Community of Africa or CFA) francs (XOF) (Articles 447 and 667 of the GTC).

Withholding tax (WHT) on amounts paid by private healthcare establishments

The FY25 Finance Law establishes a 10% WHT on amounts paid by private healthcare establishments to members of the medical and paramedical professions who are not part of their staff (Article 212 ter of the GTC). 

Increasing of the rate of the specific tax on tobacco

Initially capped at 65% by Article 434 of the GTC, the rate of the specific tax on tobacco was increased from 65% to 70% by the FY25 Finance Law.

Alcohol tax: reorganisation of the tax base

The FY25 Finance Law has provided a reorganisation of the tax base on alcoholic liquid beverages, which now relates to the quantity of alcoholic liquid contained in each beverage and not to the content.

Tax refund certificate

The FY25 Finance Law provides the adoption of the tax refund certificate as the preferred means of payment for refund requests (instead of payment by check or bank transfer). 

The reimbursement by check or bank transfer will only be made upon the decision of the Minister of Finance (Article 393 of the GTC).

At the same time, submitting the tax refund request electronically has been provided for (Article 692 of the GTC).

Tax clearance certificate 

The FY25 Finance Law introduces a new obligation to request a tax clearance certificate dated less than 30 days before any payment to foreign legal entities with permanent professional installations in Senegal for construction and public works companies, cement producers, mining and oil companies, and public service operators or concessionaires (Article 642 bis of the GTC).

Ultimate beneficial owner return

Previously, Article 667 of the GTC provides that any breaches of obligations relating to beneficial owner returns are subject to a fine of XOF 10 million. FY25 Finance Law provides a reduction of the amount of the fine applicable from XOF 10 million to XOF 1 million for taxpayers not covered by the tax division in charge of major companies (Article 667 of the GTC).

Extension of the benefit of the Export Free Enterprise (EFE) status

The benefit of the EFE status was extended until 31 December 2025 by Article 39 of the FY25 Finance Law.

Elimination of non-functional commissions

Non-functional commissions, namely the joint commission on registration fees and the joint conciliation commission, have been eliminated by the FY25 Finance Law.

Elimination of tax measures

Tax measures adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic are eliminated by the FY25 Finance Law.