Cameroon expat tax 2026: rates and residence

Cameroon taxes its residents on their worldwide income, and then adds a 10% council surcharge to almost every income tax bill. The surcharge, called the centimes additionnels communaux (CAC), turns a 35% top rate into 38.5% and a 15% tax on dividends into 16.5%. Working in Cameroon is enough on its own to make you resident, with no day count.

This guide covers personal tax in Cameroon for the 2026 tax year, which runs with the calendar year from 1 January to 31 December 2026. Amounts are in Central African CFA francs (XAF, often written FCFA), the CEMAC currency pegged to the euro. The rules are in the Code général des impôts (CGI), published by the Direction Générale des Impôts (DGI).

What's changed: the income tax scale and the CAC are unchanged for 2026. The 2024 local taxation law (Law 2024/020 of 23 December 2024) replaced the simplified regime for small businesses with the Impôt Général Synthétique (IGS), a fixed amount by band of turnover, and the 2026 Finance Law (Law 2025/012 of 17 December 2025) brought the tax code into line. The 2026 Finance Law also widened the tax on gains from shares in Cameroonian companies to catch more indirect disposals, taxed ride-hailing drivers working through apps on 20% of each fare, and renewed a settlement procedure for tax debts issued before 31 December 2023. The 30% professional expenses allowance on salaries has been capped at XAF 4.8 million a year since the 2024 Finance Law.

👉 DGI: Code général des impôts, 2026 edition, including the 2026 Finance Law (in French)

📋 Cameroon tax at a glance for 2026

The 10% council surcharge on every tax bill

The CAC is the one feature to understand before you look at any Cameroonian rate.

Image 1 — the 10% council surcharge (CAC) goes on top of every income tax bill

Article 71 of the code adds 10% to the income tax worked out under the scale (article 69) and the flat rates on investment income (article 70), as a surcharge paid to local councils. It's charged on the tax, not on your income, so a rate of 35% becomes 38.5% and a rate of 15% becomes 16.5%. The same surcharge sits on top of the 30% rate for business and professional profits, the minimum tax of 2% of turnover, the monthly instalments and the 10% tax on rents that you pay yourself.

• Employees: your employer withholds income tax and CAC from each payment and pays them over by the 15th of the next month. No tax is withheld on pay under XAF 62,000 a month.

• Investors: a Cameroonian bank or paying agent withholds the 16.5%. If dividends or interest are paid to you abroad, you report them on your annual return and pay the tax yourself.

• Self-employed: each monthly instalment of 2% of turnover carries the CAC too.

👉 DGI: Code général des impôts, articles 69 to 71, 81, 82 and 86 (in French)

When you become tax resident in Cameroon, and how you stop

Article 25 of the code taxes every individual with a tax domicile (domicile fiscal) in Cameroon on their worldwide income. You're domiciled in Cameroon if any one of these applies:

• your home (foyer) or your main place of stay is in Cameroon

• you work in Cameroon, as an employee or self-employed, unless you can show the work is only incidental

• the centre of your economic interests is in Cameroon

The code doesn't set a day count. Taking a job in Cameroon makes you domiciled even if your family stays behind. If another country also treats you as resident, a tax treaty tie-breaker may decide, but Cameroon has only a handful of treaties. Non-residents are taxed only on income from Cameroon.

To stop being resident, you need to give up your home and main stay in Cameroon, stop working there and move your economic interests. Cameroon has no exit tax. When you leave for good, the immigration decree says you hand back your residence permit when your exit visa is issued, and the documents for an exit visa can include a certificate from the tax authorities that you owe no tax. Settle your final year before you go.

👉 DGI: Code général des impôts, articles 25 and 28 on domicile (in French)

Income tax rates for 2026

Salaries, wages and pensions are taxed on a four-band scale. The CAC is then added to the tax.

Cameroon income tax rates for 2026

Source: Code général des impôts, 2026 edition, articles 69(1) and 71.

Allowances. From your gross pay, including benefits in kind, you deduct a flat 30% for professional expenses, capped at XAF 4.8 million a year, and your compulsory CNPS pension contributions. Salaries then get a further XAF 500,000 off.

👉 DGI: Code général des impôts, articles 29 to 34 on salaries and allowances (in French)

Worked example

• You're domiciled in Cameroon and work for a Cameroonian employer for all of 2026, earning XAF 58.5 million (about US$100k at XAF 585 to the dollar), or XAF 4,875,000 a month.

• The 30% allowance is capped at XAF 4.8 million. Your CNPS pension contribution is XAF 378,000 (4.2% of the XAF 750,000 monthly ceiling). After the XAF 500,000 deduction, your taxable income is XAF 52,822,000.

• Income tax is XAF 850,000 on the first XAF 5 million plus 35% of the rest, XAF 16,737,700: a total of XAF 17,587,700. The CAC adds XAF 1,758,770, so you pay XAF 19,346,470.

• Payroll levies come on top: the 1% Crédit Foncier contribution (XAF 585,000), the audiovisual fee (XAF 13,000 a month, XAF 156,000 a year) and the local development tax (XAF 30,000 a year).

Your all-in bill is about XAF 20.5 million, or 35.0% of your salary (33.1% for income tax and CAC alone). Your employer pays its own CNPS contributions and levies on top.

Working remotely for a foreign employer? If you're domiciled in Cameroon, your salary is part of your worldwide income. There's no Cameroonian employer to withhold it, so you report it on your annual return and pay the tax yourself.

Freelancing in Cameroon

Since the simplified regime was replaced by the IGS, a self-employed person falls into one of two regimes, depending on turnover (excluding VAT):

• IGS: professionals with turnover under XAF 30 million (XAF 50 million for trade and crafts) pay the Impôt Général Synthétique, a fixed amount by band of turnover set under the local taxation rules.

• Real regime: at XAF 30 million or more, you keep accounts and pay income tax at a flat 30% of your profit, plus the CAC, so 33%. The tax can't be less than 2% of your turnover, plus CAC.

On US$100k of profit (XAF 58.5 million), that's XAF 19,305,000, about 33%. The code applies the rate in article 17, which is 30%; the 25% rate for businesses with turnover up to XAF 3 billion is written for companies, and if it applied you would pay 27.5%.

• Instalments: you pay 2% of each month's turnover, plus CAC, by the 15th of the following month, and the balance with your annual return by 15 March.

• Withholding: the State, public bodies and listed private businesses withhold 5% from fees paid to professionals, which counts towards your bill.

• Social security: CNPS cover is voluntary for the self-employed. If you join, you pay 8.4% of a declared income between XAF 60,000 and XAF 750,000 a month.

👉 DGI: Code général des impôts, articles 17, 69, 74, 91, 92 bis and 93 ter to 93 quater (in French)

Crypto, investments and pensions

Is crypto taxed in Cameroon? The code now lists income from digital assets (actifs numériques) as investment income, but article 42 bis leaves the details to a ruling by the Minister of Finance, which we couldn't find published. If the normal investment income rate applies, a gain would be taxed at 15% plus CAC, 16.5%. Keep full records.

• Dividends and interest: taxed at a final 15% plus CAC (16.5%), whether they come from Cameroon or abroad. Dividends from companies with turnover up to XAF 3 billion are taxed at 10% plus CAC; we've assumed foreign dividends pay 16.5%. Interest on savings accounts is exempt on deposits up to XAF 50 million.

• Gains on Cameroonian shares: the net gain for the year on shares and bonds in Cameroonian companies is taxed as investment income at 16.5%. A net gain up to XAF 500,000 is exempt, and losses carry forward for four years.

• Gains on foreign shares: these aren't in the investment income rule. The code taxes the profits of individuals' stock exchange transactions as non-commercial profits at the 30% rate plus CAC, so in our reading a gain on foreign shares could cost 33%. Check with the DGI.

• Foreign pensions: pensions are taxed on the same scale as salaries, after the 30% allowance. The code says a pension is treated as received in Cameroon when the payer is established there, but it doesn't exempt pensions paid from abroad, and the DGI says residents declare all their worldwide income, pensions included. Plan on declaring yours.

• Property: a gain on selling property is taxed at a final 5% (10% if the sale is paid in cash), collected by the notary. Rents are taxed at a flat 10%, withheld by business and public-sector tenants, or paid by you each quarter with the CAC on top.

• Inheritance and gifts: inheritance duty runs from 1% on the first XAF 5 million to 5% above XAF 500 million of the net estate, whoever inherits. Gifts cost 5% between spouses, parents and children, 10% between siblings and 20% for others.

Cameroon has no wealth tax.

👉 DGI: Code général des impôts, articles 30, 35, 42 to 44, 56, 70, 86, 90, 348 and 544 (in French)

👉 DGI: who files the annual income tax return, and worldwide income including pensions (in French)

Social security

The Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale (CNPS) runs three branches: pensions (old age, invalidity and death), family benefits, and work accidents and occupational illness. For employees:

• Pensions: 8.4% of pay up to XAF 750,000 a month, shared between you and your employer; your share is withheld from your pay (we use 4.2%, XAF 31,500 a month at the ceiling). Your share is deductible for income tax.

• Family benefits: 7% under the general scheme, paid by the employer only, on capped pay.

• Work accidents and occupational illness: a contribution paid by your employer.

There are also payroll levies collected with the tax: the Crédit Foncier housing contribution (1% from you, 1.5% from your employer), a 1% National Employment Fund contribution paid by the employer, an audiovisual fee of up to XAF 13,000 a month and a local development tax of up to XAF 30,000 a year. Pensions are exempt from the Crédit Foncier contribution and the audiovisual fee.

The self-employed can join the CNPS voluntarily for pension cover, paying 8.4% of a declared income of XAF 60,000 to XAF 750,000 a month.

👉 CNPS: employer obligations and contribution branches (in French)

👉 CNPS: voluntary insurance, the 8.4% rate and the XAF 750,000 ceiling (in French)

Double tax treaties

Does Cameroon have double tax treaties? A few. The DGI publishes general tax conventions with seven countries: France (in force since 1978), Canada (since 1988), Tunisia (since 2008), Morocco, South Africa, China and the Czech Republic. It also lists agreements with Germany and Switzerland that cover air transport only. There's no treaty with the UK or the United States, so a British or American mover relies on each country's own relief rules. The DGI page doesn't show whether the newer conventions are in force, so check before you rely on one.

👉 DGI: tax conventions (in French)

Staying long term in Cameroon

Cameroon has no digital nomad visa. British citizens need a visa before they travel, applied for online, and a yellow fever vaccination certificate. Under the 2023 immigration decree:

• Short-stay visa: for tourists and business visitors, valid for up to 6 months. Visas can't be switched to another category and are extended only in cases of force majeure.

• Long-stay visa: for stays over 6 months, valid for up to 12 months. You need, for example, an employment contract approved by the Ministry of Employment, an authorisation for a profession or business, a place to study, or family ties. Only this visa lets you work in Cameroon.

• Residence permit: issued on a long-stay visa, valid for 2 years and renewable once. After 6 years you can apply for a 10-year residence card.

A remote worker with no local contract doesn't fit any category neatly. And the tax rules don't wait for a permit: working from Cameroon can make you domiciled there.

👉 Presidency of the Republic: Decree 2023/147 on the entry, stay and exit of foreigners

👉 UK government: Cameroon entry requirements, e-visas and yellow fever

Who is Cameroon good for?

How does Cameroon compare for different kinds of mover? Ratings are relative to the 150+ countries TaxPilot covers, based on 2026 rules and the all-in cost including the CAC and compulsory contributions. We convert at about XAF 585 to US$1, in October 2026: the CFA franc is fixed at XAF 655.957 to the euro, and the European Central Bank's reference rate was US$1.1225 to the euro on 19 October 2026.

☑️ Who is Cameroon good for? Tax ratings for expats in 2026

👉 BEAC: the fixed parity of the CFA franc with the euro (in French)

👉 European Central Bank: euro reference rate for the US dollar

Filing and deadlines

The tax year is the calendar year. Everyone who receives salaries, pensions, investment income or rent files an annual summary return of income (déclaration annuelle récapitulative), online or at the local tax centre, showing the income, the tax already withheld and any balance due.

• 31 July: public sector employees.

• 30 September: employees of businesses managed by the large and medium enterprise tax offices.

• 31 October: everyone else, including people paid from abroad.

• 15 March: the annual return for self-employed people and businesses, with the balance of tax.

• Monthly, by the 15th: employer withholding, and the self-employed's 2% instalments.

Employers and other payers must give you a statement of your pay and the tax withheld by 15 March.

👉 DGI: Code général des impôts, articles 74, 74 bis, 82 and 91 on returns and payment (in French)

Frequently asked questions

When do I become tax resident in Cameroon?

You're domiciled in Cameroon for tax if your home or main place of stay is there, if you work there (unless the work is only incidental), or if the centre of your economic interests is there. There's no day count, and any one test is enough.

Does Cameroon tax foreign income?

Yes. People domiciled in Cameroon are taxed on their worldwide income. Foreign dividends and interest are taxed at 16.5% including the council surcharge, and if they're paid abroad you declare them and pay the tax yourself.

What are the income tax rates in Cameroon for 2026?

Salaries and pensions are taxed at 10% up to XAF 2 million, 15% up to XAF 3 million, 25% up to XAF 5 million and 35% above that. A 10% council surcharge (CAC) is then added to the tax, so the top rate is 38.5% in effect.

What is the CAC in Cameroon?

The centimes additionnels communaux are a 10% surcharge on income tax, paid to local councils. They're charged on the tax, not on your income, so a 15% tax becomes 16.5% and a 35% rate becomes 38.5%.

Do expats pay CNPS contributions in Cameroon?

Employees pay pension contributions to the CNPS, the national social insurance fund, on pay up to XAF 750,000 a month, and the employee share is deductible for income tax. Employers pay family benefits and work accident contributions on top. The self-employed can join voluntarily.

Does Cameroon have a tax treaty with the UK?

No. The DGI publishes general tax conventions with France, Canada, Tunisia, Morocco, South Africa, China and the Czech Republic, but none with the UK or the United States.

Where to go next

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