Ivory Coast introduces VAT on non-resident digital services

1 February 2022

From 4 January 2022, the West African state of the Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) has imposed VAT on the sale of e-services to local consumers by non-resident businesses.

Prior to January 2022, non-resident businesses providing digital services in Côte d’Ivoire did not have to charge VAT on their sales. However, to remove the unfair advantage this gives to non-resident companies over resident providers, the local tax authorities (Direction Générale Des Impôts) confirmed that VAT will be charged at 18% on these types of transactions.

This new tax will require foreign providers of electronic service to register with the Direction Générale Des Impôts through a new simplified registration process, and will apply to a range of electronic services including streaming games, music, apps, films, e-books, e-journals, software, and internet services.