Cote d’Ivoire: Provisions affecting nonresident digital businesses in 2026 budget

The tax authority of the Ivory Coast on December 31, 2025, published the Tax Annex to Finance Law No. 2025-987, which implements the 2026 budget. The 2026 budget includes the following two provisions affecting nonresident digital businesses.

Withholding tax for platforms facilitating transportation services

The 2024 Budget Law of December 18, 2023, introduced a withholding tax of 4% on earnings for owners of public transport vehicles (for passengers or goods) using online connection platforms. However, technical and practical challenges hindered its implementation, as these platforms lack direct contractual relationships with vehicle owners, dealing only with partner drivers.

To address this, the 2026 budget proposes requiring vehicle owners to pay a transport license tax (similar to other transport operators) and provide proof of payment for registration or re-registration on these platforms. If owners fail to meet this requirement, platforms must deactivate their vehicles or face joint liability for the tax payment. Relevant articles of the General Tax Code (Articles 272 and 1153) are adjusted accordingly.

Significant economic presence (SEP)

The 2026 budget includes a new SEP tax of 30% on the profits of digital businesses (capped at 10% of the revenue generated from services sold to Ivorian consumers).

SEP threshold

Taxpayers will be considered as having a SEP in Cote d’Ivoire when their online platforms generate at least 50 million CFA francs (approximately US$90,000) in annual revenue from services provided to consumers located in Côte d'Ivoire. The revenue considered refers to all income and proceeds earned in Côte d’Ivoire from digital services of any kind, as well as commissions and other payments received for such operations by the operators of these platforms.

According to memorandum No. 03949/MBPE/DGI-SDL/10-2023, which outlines the value added tax (VAT) submission system for online sales platforms and digital services, a digital platform is defined as any website or application that uses software to remotely connect service providers with customers, facilitate transactions between them, and, if applicable, enable online payment for these transactions. Additionally, the system applies to digital platforms owned by service providers that directly sell their own services without acting as intermediaries for other transactions.

The memorandum clarifies that websites or platforms offering both unpaid activities and paid services fall under the scope of this system, but only for the revenue generated from their paid services. For example, social networks are included when they allow users to connect and share information for free while offering paid advertising services to other users. These definitions are expected to apply to the new SEP rules unless alternative definitions are provided. Therefore, the term "platforms" encompasses both intermediaries facilitating transactions and those directly selling services to customers.

Digital activities in scope

Article 7 of the Tax Annex 2026 and administrative note No. 03949/MBPE/DGI-SDL/10-2023 specify that the primary digital services offered by these platforms, without this list being exhaustive, fall into the following categories:

• Online advertising services: The paid broadcasting, on a digital platform, of an advertisement regarding products sold by a third party, targeted at platform users.
• Online data services: The sale, granting of usage rights, or access provided for a fee by a digital platform, to data collected from its users during interactions. It is irrelevant whether this data is sold, granted, made accessible directly or indirectly, aggregated, disaggregated, anonymized, or used in other forms.
• Online markets: Services through which a digital platform directly connects suppliers of goods or services with potential clients, platform users, and facilitates transactions between these parties.
• Cloud computing services: The sale, granting of usage rights, access, or streaming against payment, of digital content. This can be multimedia or documentary content.
• Online gaming services: The paid provision of services offering users the opportunity to participate in ail games on the internet, including video games, games of chance, virtual casino, virtual poker, and online betting.
• Cloud computing services: Services through which digital platforms offer their users, for a fee, online hosting of data or digital content in a private space or granting the user access to applications or software not installed on the device they use.
• Social network platforms: An online platform meeting the following criteria:
  • The platform facilitates the registration of an unlimited number of users (subscribers) through account creation or profile establishment.
  • User registration grants them free access to the platform but requires personal data sharing.
  • The platform facilitates interaction among users and enables content sharing between them.
  • These platforms are only concerned by the provisions of article 7 of the 2022 Tax Schedule insofar as they offer paid services.
• Search engines: A website allowing its users to automatically search all databases affiliated with said engine for information specified by the users, generally by entering a search key in the dedicated search field.

Sourcing

As soon as a digital platform enters into a contract with an Ivorian customer and receives payment from them, the service is considered to have been performed and is subject to the SEP rules.

Tax base

The SEP tax rate is 30% of the profit that is capped at 10% of the revenue generated from services sold to Ivorian consumers. To avoid double taxation of the same income, the withholding tax on these services under Article 92 of the General Tax Code is deductible from the SEP tax owed by the respective platforms in Côte d’Ivoire.

Compliance

Platforms must register with the tax administration, file declarations online, and pay taxes electronically. Non-compliant platforms will face penalties, including public disclosure of their names via official channels and media, suspension of access from Côte d'Ivoire, and other fiscal sanctions.

KPMG observation

The new SEP rules come in addition to already existing VAT rules for nonresident digital services providers. As a consequence, nonresident digital services providers now face a dual tax obligation in Cote d’Ivoire: they must collect VAT on in-scope services provided to customers in Cote d’Ivoire and now also owe corporate income tax if they meet the SEP requirement. This development is in line with similar developments in the region as jurisdictions are implementing special taxation rules for nonresidents in the digital economy.

For more information, contact a KPMG tax professional:

Philippe Stephanny | philippestephanny@kpmg.com

Chinedu Nwachukwu | chinedunwachukwu@kpmg.com

Florence Seri | fseri@kpmg.ci

Louis-Marc Allali | lallali@kpmg.com

Jacques Assoumou | jassoumou@kpmg.ci