Gabon - Apply for Withholding Tax

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Procedure

• The withholding agent is required by the Income Tax Act to pay to GRA the tax withheld (or that should have been withheld), within 15 days after the end of the month in which the payment was made.
• In the case of a person about to leave Gabon, the tax should be withheld and paid before the payee leaves.
• The agent is further required to maintain and avail for inspection by Gabon Revenue Authority, records of all payments to the payee(s) and the corresponding tax withheld for fifteen years after the end of the year of income to which such records relate.
• Upon receiving the payment of tax, GRA issues, to the payee a Tax Credit Certificate, setting out the tax withheld. The withholding agent is required to obtain from GRA and deliver the tax credit certificate to the payee.

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Required Documents

• Completed and filed withholding tax registration form
• Tax Identification Number (TIN)
• Identification documents

Office Locations & Contacts

Ministry of Finance, Economy, Budget and Privatization

BP 165 Libreville

Tel: +241 76 12 10/176 0991/164 5925

Fax: +241 176 5838

Website:http://www.finances.gouv.ga

Reserve/Central Bank of Gabon

112 Libreville

Tel: +241 76 13 52/

Tel:+241 76 02 06

Tel:+241 76 11 05

Fax: +241 77 54 06

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.beac.int

Gabon Revenue Authority

Direction Gnral des Impts du Gabon

Administration Head:

Mr Jol OGOUMA

Directeur Gnral des Impts

Institution Address:

B.P. 37 or 45

Libreville

Gabon

Contact Details:

Phone:+241 0179 53 76 / 7

Email: [email protected]

Eligibility

• All employee's in Gabon are required to pay withholding Tax.
• All income from movable capital is withheld for tax.
• All Foreign companies that has no branch in Gabon are entitled to pay withholding tax
• All payment deducted from professional service are entitled to a 35% corporate tax.
• Any company in which the Government of Gabon has interest .

Fees

• You register for free of charge
• Profit from dividends, executive director's fees, capital interest, and other gains on investments are subject to a 35-percent withholding tax.

Validity

Valid for a year

Documents to Use

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Sample Documents

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Processing Time

7 working days

Related Videos

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Instructions

• Interest paid by a Gabonese company to a nonresident entity are subject to a 10% withholding tax calculated on the gross amount paid (excluding tax on turnover)
• Royalties paid by a Gabonese company to a nonresident entity, as well as commissions, consultancy fees and fees for services performed in Gabon, are subject to a withholding tax of 10%.
• The tax is imposed on the net amount after an arbitrary deduction for expenses.
• Amounts are also withheld on account of taxes due at 10 to 15 percent on the amount payable for professional services, at 3 percent on commercial services and at 10 percent on commissions paid to commercial agents.
• Employers must withhold the scheduled tax on salaries and wages from their employee's pay.

The withholding agent is required to keep the records of payment and withholding for 15 years

Required Information

• Name
• Address
• Marital status
• Date/Country/place of birth
• Sources of income
• Type of business activity
• Tax agent
• Referee

Need for the Document

A withholding tax, also called a retention tax, is a government requirement for the payer of an item of income to withhold or deduct tax from the payment, and pay.This tax is a deduction from an employee's income that the employer sends directly to the state tax authorities. There are a number of withholding taxes in Gabon, these include Dividends Tax. income taxes which are withheld at source in many cases.

Dividends paid by a Gabonese company to a resident or nonresident individual shareholder are subject to a 20% withholding tax, unless a tax treaty provides for a lower rate. Dividends paid by a Gabonese company to a corporate shareholder are subject to a 15% withholding tax.

In the case of a dividend received from a nonresident company, foreign tax paid on the dividend is not creditable against Gabon company tax unless a double tax treaty provides for such a credit.

The treatment of dividends received by corporate shareholders differs when cumulatively:

i) The shareholder owns at least 25% of the shares in the affiliate;

ii) The head offices of the shareholder and its affiliate are located in Gabon or another CEMAC state.

iii) And the shares remain registered in the name of the shareholder for at least 2 consecutive years. In this situation, only 10% of the dividend received is subject to tax.

• Social security contributions are assessed by the employer on the whole compensations received by the employee, with an annual upper limite of XAF 18, 000, 000 yearly, including benefits in kind and excluding the reimbursement of expenses and allowances.

The total rate of the social security contributions is 22.6%, which is shared between the employer (20.1%) and employee (2.5%)

• A territorial tax system applies, under which tax is imposed only on profits derived by a resident or non-resident entity from operations in Gabon
• The main instances where taxes are withheld are summarized below.

Information which might help

Incentives

• Gabon provides certain legal guarantees, such as non-discrimination between enterprises owned by nationals and those owned by foreigners and no expropriation or nationalization without just and equitable prior compensation as determined by an independent third party.
• There are specific incentives for some activities, such as the oil industry, mines as well as new business.
• The most significant investment incentives are corporate tax exemption for 3years for new companies, import duty concessions, exemption from export duties or AT and tax reductions. Other tax incentives include the carry forward of depreciation and losses and the deferred taxation of the reinvested capital gains over a period of 3years.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

http://www.finances.gouv.ga

http://www.africamines.com/gabon.html

Others

More information which might help people.