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Tunisia VAT registration threshold

Tunisia VAT registration threshold: no single figure applies. The reason is set out below, cited to the governing instrument. Last checked against the official source on 26 Aug 2026.

Official source: Code de la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée (promulgated by loi n° 88-61 du 2 juin 1988) · Last checked 2026-08-26 · source fingerprint

The turnover at which VAT registration becomes compulsory in Tunisia — REFUSED: the Code de la TVA has no turnover-based registration threshold; assujettissement is determined by the nature of the activity, with the income-tax régime forfaitaire (TND 100,000 ceiling) acting only as an adjacent small-trader carve-out, not a VAT threshold.

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Current valueno single figure
In force from—
Official sourceCode de la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée (promulgated by loi n° 88-61 du 2 juin 1988), art. 1 (operations within the scope: 'les affaires faites en Tunisie' of an industrial, artisanal, professional or commercial nature) and art. 2 (assujettis: persons carrying out the listed operations are taxable BY LAW — 'sont assujettis à la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée les personnes qui réalisent les opérations visées à l'article premier' — plus optional assujettissement on request for those outside the scope). No article of the code conditions liability or registration on a turnover figure; there is no franchise en base. The only turnover boundary in the system is the régime forfaitaire of art. 44 bis et seq. of the Code de l'IRPP/IS (BIC forfait, annual turnover not exceeding TND 100,000), whose flat tax is 'libératoire' of both income tax and VAT — an income-tax regime, not a VAT registration threshold.
Last verified2026-08-26
Verificationprimary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited.
Provenancesource fingerprint

What this value means

WHY REFUSED: publishing a number here would manufacture a threshold Tunisia does not have. Assujettissement à la TVA is by ACTIVITY (Code de la TVA arts. 1-2): a person performing in-scope operations is a taxable person from the first dinar, must obtain a tax identification/existence declaration before starting activity (Code des droits et procédures fiscaux, déclaration d'existence), and charges VAT at 19% (7%/13% reduced) regardless of turnover. The commonly quoted TND 100,000 figure is the CEILING OF THE RÉGIME FORFAITAIRE (BIC forfait, art. 44 bis Code de l'IRPP): eligible small individual traders inside it pay a flat liberatory tax covering income tax and VAT, so they do not separately register for or charge VAT — but it is an income-tax regime with eligibility conditions well beyond turnover (individuals only, no imports/exports, single establishment, excluded activity list, urban-zone restrictions), it can be exited by option or forced reclassification, and professionals/companies can never use it. Treating 100,000 TND as 'the VAT registration threshold' misclassifies both regimes. PERIOD BASIS (of the adjacent forfait): calendar-year turnover ≤ TND 100,000; exceeding it (or failing any condition) tips the trader into the régime réel, where VAT applies to in-scope activities. Finance laws have repeatedly tightened forfait eligibility (and floated its abolition) — check the current loi de finances before relying on the carve-out. NON-ESTABLISHED SUPPLIERS: nil threshold. A non-resident performing taxable operations in Tunisia is liable from the first transaction: either the resident CLIENT withholds the VAT at source (retenue à la source at 100% of the VAT due on payments to non-residents without establishment), or the non-resident registers as a foreign taxpayer with the DGI. IMPORTED DIGITAL SERVICES: Tunisia applies 19% VAT to digital/electronic services supplied by non-residents to Tunisian consumers with a NIL registration threshold — the non-resident may register directly with the DGI (monthly returns, due the 15th; no fiscal representative required under the simplified route) or, for B2B, the Tunisian customer withholds the VAT. There is no turnover de minimis for this regime either. Traps: (1) Any source quoting 'Tunisia VAT threshold: TND 100,000' has substituted the BIC forfait ceiling — refuse the equivalence; the forfait is personal, conditional and income-tax-law based. (2) The forfait shelters only PERSONNES PHYSIQUES in BIC — companies and professionals owe VAT from the first dinar. (3) Opting into VAT (art. 2 option) is available to persons outside the scope and to forfaitaires, and brings full régime réel obligations. (4) Non-resident B2B services are captured by 100% VAT withholding at source by the payer — the threshold question never arises. (5) Non-resident B2C digital services carry a nil-threshold registration obligation — do not extend the domestic forfait tolerance to foreign suppliers. (6) Forfait eligibility rules shift almost every loi de finances; a trader validly forfaitaire (hence outside VAT) one year can be within VAT the next without turnover moving.

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# History:    curl https://afriref.dev/v1/tn/vat-registration-threshold/history?from=2020-01-01
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Other Tunisia series: BCT key policy rate (taux directeur) · TVA standard rate · SMIG · Public holidays · CPI inflation (year-on-year) · Corporate income tax rate (IS) · Withholding tax rates · Legal interest (intérêt légal) · Personal income tax brackets (IRPP) · Statutory social-insurance contributions

The same figure elsewhere: Uganda · Zambia · Algeria · Angola · Benin · all 34