Legislative summary of changes
Replacement of IRPP with ITS (Tax on Salaries and Wages)
- The Personal Income Tax (IRPP) is replaced by Impôt sur les Traitements et Salaires (ITS), a salary-specific tax.
- ITS applies to:
- Salaries, wages, emoluments and similar remuneration.
- Pensions and life annuities.
- Payments to company executives, except income expressly subject to the tax on income from movable capital.
- Payroll must apply ITS based on employee residence and place of work rules.
Scope of taxation for salaries and pensions
- Salaries and wages are taxable in Congo when:
- The beneficiary is domiciled in Congo, even if the activity is performed abroad or the employer is established abroad.
- The beneficiary is not domiciled in Congo, but the activity is carried out in Congo, and the employer is established there.
- Public or private pensions and life annuities are taxable when:
- The beneficiary is domiciled in Congo, even if the payer is abroad.
- The beneficiary is not domiciled in Congo, but the payer is established in Congo.
Tax residence definition
- Considered tax residents of Congo:
- Individuals with a permanent home in Congo.
- Individuals whose centre of vital interests is in Congo.
- State employees posted abroad.
ITS-exempt income categories
- Exempt from ITS:
- Expense reimbursements and representation allowances meeting deductibility rules.
- Transport allowances granted to all employees.
- Severance and voluntary departure indemnities under a social plan.
- Retirement pensions.
- Family allowances paid by the State or public bodies.
- Work accident benefits and related annuities.
- State or local authority scholarships.
- Military disability pensions and war-related benefits.
- Court-awarded annuities for permanent total disability.
- Death benefits.
- Salary indexation paid to diplomats posted abroad.
- Employer-funded employee savings invested domestically.
- End-of-career or retirement bonuses within statutory or collective agreement limits.
- Unemployment allowance.
Persons exempt from ITS
- Foreign diplomatic and consular staff are exempt where:
- Reciprocity is granted to Congolese staff abroad.
- Conditions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 18 April 1961 are met.
- Exemption does not apply to:
- Local staff of missions or international organisations.
- Remuneration outside diplomatic functions.
- Income subject to other taxes.
Prohibition of salary tax incentives
- No exemptions or reductions of ITS are allowed beyond those expressly listed.
- Article 114C prohibits any salary tax relief as an employment or hiring incentive.
Valuation of benefits in kind
- Benefits in kind are taxed at actual value, or forfait values if not determinable:
- Housing: 20% of salary, capped at the social security ceiling.
- Domestic staff: 7% of gross salary.
- Security services: 7% of gross salary.
- Water: 5% of gross salary.
- Electricity: 5% of gross salary.
- Gas: 5% of gross salary.
- Telephone: 2% of gross salary.
- Car: 3% of gross salary.
- Food: 20% of gross salary.
- The valuation base is gross salary plus leave pay, net of employee pension and mandatory social security contributions.
- Employer-paid collective social insurance or health premiums are non-taxable if granted equally to all employees.
Allowable deductions and family quotient
- A 20% rebate applies to net salary after employee pension contributions.
- Family quotient system applies, based on marital status and dependants.
- Family shares range from 1 part to a maximum of 6.5 parts, with increases for dependent and disabled children.
- Special rules apply for widowed taxpayers, separated spouses, and public employees posted outside fully constituted communes.
- Family status is determined as at 1 January of the tax year, except where marriage or additional dependants arise during the year, in which case the position at 31 December applies.
Progressive ITS tax rates
- Net taxable salary is rounded down to the nearest FCFA 1,000.
- Annual progressive scale:
- FCFA 1,200 for income from 0 to 615,000.
- 10% from 615,001 to 1,500,000.
- 15% from 1,500,001 to 3,500,000.
- 20% from 3,500,001 to 5,000,000.
- 30% above 5,000,000.
- Where annual gross salary is below the SMIG, a minimum annual tax of FCFA 1,200 applies.
Foreign-source income
- Subject to tax treaties, foreign-source employment income is taxable on the amount actually received, net of foreign taxes paid.
Redistribution of the Unique Tax on Salaries (TUS)
- Article 8 of Tome II revises the allocation of the TUS contribution.
- 27% of TUS is allocated to the State and collected by the tax authority.
- 73% of TUS collected by CNSS.
- Based on a TUS rate of 7.5%:
- State share: 2.025%.
- CNSS share: 5.475%.
Other payroll taxes and contributions
All other taxes and social security contributions remain unchanged.
Additional information and resources
- Click here to access the official publication.
- Please refer to release note PSPDEV-23898, PSPDEV-238981 and PSPDEV-238982 titled Calculation changes / Annual amendments 2026 for more information.
Should you have any questions regarding the Congo Annual amendments 2026, please feel free to visit our Support page for more ways to get in touch, or email us at [email protected]
The Deel Local Payroll Team