Benin VAT registration threshold
Benin VAT registration threshold is 50000000 XOF, in force since 3 Mar 2022. Last checked against the official source on 10 Aug 2026.
Compulsory VAT liability (assujetti-redevable) in Benin begins at an annual turnover of 50,000,000 FCFA hors taxes (a single threshold for all activities, tested on in-year turnover with VAT applying from the first day of the month after the threshold is crossed); non-established suppliers face a nil threshold with a mandatory fiscal representative (Art. 262 CGI), and foreign e-commerce/digital platforms must register with the DGI and remit 18% VAT from their first sale into Benin.
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What this value means
PERIOD BASIS: Annual chiffre d'affaires hors taxes (HT) — the arrêté's TPS article says 'chiffre d'affaires annuel hors taxes' and CGI art. 229(1) exempts persons whose 'chiffre d'affaires annuel hors taxe' does not exceed the art. 228 threshold, so the 50m test is HT. There is NO goods/services split: one 50,000,000 FCFA threshold applies 'quelle que soit ... la nature de leurs activités'. The test is on CURRENT-year turnover: per CGI art. 226(3), when the limit is reached in-year, VAT liability takes effect from the first day of the month following the crossing (mirrored for the TPS-to-réel switch by art. 182(1), with a December crossing deferred to the next year; art. 182(2) also triggers the switch when purchases of goods/services/equipment or signed contracts exceed the threshold). Downward stickiness: a business whose turnover falls below the limit must keep filing and paying VAT for three consecutive financial years (art. 226(3) al. 2), and is only re-classed to TPS after turnover stays below the limit for two consecutive years (art. 182(5)). The below-threshold exemption does NOT apply to supplies to the State, local authorities and State companies/establishments (art. 229(1)), which are subject to 100% VAT withholding at source (art. 263, as amended by LF 2025). NON-ESTABLISHED SUPPLIERS: Nil threshold in practice — the 50m band is a domestic small-business relief; a non-domiciled assujetti making taxable supplies in Benin must under CGI art. 262(1) 'désigner un représentant domicilié en République du Bénin qui s'engage à remplir toutes les formalités nécessaires et à exécuter tous les paiements exigibles en ses lieu et place' (appoint a representative domiciled in Benin who undertakes to complete all formalities and make all payments due in his place). If no representative is appointed, art. 262(2) makes the VAT and penalties due by the recipients/beneficiaries of the taxable transactions and by any person who, by their position in the transaction, invoices or collects the sums for the foreign supplier (a de facto reverse charge shifted to the Beninese customer/intermediary). IMPORTED DIGITAL SERVICES: Benin taxes e-commerce in the CGI itself: art. 224(9)-(10) make taxable the 'ventes de biens et les prestations de services effectuées sur le territoire béninois ou à travers des plateformes de commerce électronique étrangères ou locales' and the commissions earned by platform operators; art. 258(2)(a) makes the platform OPERATOR liquidate, declare and remit the VAT on behalf of suppliers (and on its own commissions), art. 258(2)(b) obliges operators to apply for immatriculation with the tax administration under art. 460, and art. 258(2)(c) sanctions non-compliance with suspension of access to the platform from Beninese territory (modalities by regulation, art. 258(2)(d)). Verified point: these provisions were already in the ORIGINAL Loi 2021-15 (checked in the official CGI 2022 edition) — the LF 2023 lead is a misattribution; what happened in 2023 was DGI operationalisation (reported DGI note n° 0426/DC/SGM/DGI/DLC/DCFR of 22 March 2023: simplified online registration via e-services.impots.bj with a NIF, quarterly returns, payment accepted in XOF/EUR/USD/CNY — secondary, not verified on an official page). NO turnover threshold applies to non-resident platforms: obligations attach from the first sale into Benin (secondary confirmation: Anrok, vatabout). Secondary reports (AUDITIA, citing a Circulaire DGI n° 012/2026 of 15 March 2026) say LF 2026 further tightened VAT on non-resident digital services with simplified immatriculation around arts. 221-225; this could not be verified against the official LF 2026 text and does not change the 50m domestic threshold. Traps: (1) WAEMU/UEMOA frame — Directive n° 02/98/CM/UEMOA as amended by Directive n° 02/2009/CM/UEMOA lets member states set VAT registration thresholds within bands (historically 30-100m FCFA for goods, 15-50m for services); Benin chose a SINGLE 50m threshold for all activities, and it is the national instrument (CGI art. 228 + the 2022 arrêté), not the directive, that is operative. (2) Régime-boundary character — since Loi 2021-15 the figure is NOT written in the code: CGI arts. 178 (TPS) and 228 (TVA) both delegate the seuil to an arrêté of the finance minister, currently Arrêté N° 529-c of 03/03/2022 which fixes BOTH at 50m, so the VAT threshold coincides exactly with the TPS (Taxe Professionnelle Synthétique, 5% of receipts, art. 183 as amended LF 2024) vs régime réel (IBA/IS) boundary; below-threshold businesses may OPT into VAT under art. 225(1)(d) subject to art. 225(3) conditions (tax-compliant, proper OHADA accounts supervised by an accountant/CGA, business bank account, effective registered seat), the option being express, irrevocable in effect from the first day of the following month, and entailing assujettissement to IBA or IS (art. 225(2)); the '20 million FCFA minimum to opt' still cited by some guides is not in the current art. 225. (3) Professions libérales — under the new CGI they are NOT forced into the réel regardless of size: art. 178 applies the TPS 'quelle que soit la nature de leur activité', so a liberal professional with CA ≤ 50m sits in TPS outside VAT unless opting (their services are VAT-taxable operations under art. 224(5)(i) once they are redevables); only persons liable to IS (art. 179, companies) are excluded from TPS irrespective of turnover. (4) The article making réel taxpayers assujettis à la TVA is art. 228 (threshold-based liability, figure via the arrêté) read with art. 226(3) ('Sont assujetties-redevables, les personnes ... lorsqu'elles réalisent un chiffre d'affaires supérieur au seuil d'assujettissement fixé à l'article 228'); art. 229(1) provides the mirror exemption below the threshold — but that exemption is disapplied for supplies to the State and in cases of flagrance fiscale (art. 229(1) al. 2). Effective_from note: 2022-03-03 is the date of the operative arrêté; the same 50m figure already applied under the pre-2022 code (DGI publications from 2016), so there was continuity, and the 2025 consolidated CGI (through LF 2025) leaves arts. 178/228 and the arrêté unchanged.
Get it programmatically
curl https://afriref.dev/v1/bj/vat-registration-threshold
# $0.005 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://afriref.dev/v1/bj/vat-registration-threshold/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://afriref.dev/provenance/bj/vat-registration-thresholdOther Benin series: Policy rate (BCEAO minimum bid rate) · Value-added tax (TVA) standard rate · Minimum wage (SMIG) · Public holidays · CPI inflation (IHPC, year-on-year) · Corporate income tax (IS) standard rate · Withholding tax rates · Statutory interest (taux de l'intérêt légal) · Personal income tax on salaries (ITS) · Statutory social-insurance contributions
The same figure elsewhere: Botswana · Burkina Faso · Cameroon · Central African Republic · Chad · all 34