Ivory Coast expat tax 2026: ITS and residence

Côte d'Ivoire taxes work, not wealth. Since January 2024 a single salary tax, the ITS, takes 0% to 32% of your monthly pay, and it reaches salaries and pensions paid from abroad too. But the general income tax that would catch foreign dividends and share gains has had no annual return since 2017, so a portfolio held abroad pays nothing in practice.

This guide covers personal tax in Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) for the 2026 tax year, the calendar year: residence, the ITS scale, CNPS, the microenterprise regime for freelancers, crypto, investments, pensions, treaties and long stays.

The key question is simple. Is your income pay or a pension, or is it investment income? Pay and pensions are taxed monthly, wherever they come from. Foreign dividends and gains are, for now, left alone.

What's changed: Ordinance 2023-719 of 13 September 2023 merged three taxes on salaries (the salary tax, the national contribution and the general income tax on salaries) into one ITS from 1 January 2024. It brought in a six-band monthly scale from 0% to 32%, replaced the family quotient with a fixed tax reduction for family charges (RICF), dropped the old 20% allowance, and raised the tax-free part of pensions to XOF 320,000 a month. The 2026 Finance Law (Law 2025-987 of 19 December 2025, in force from 5 January 2026) left the ITS unchanged. It gives labelled digital startups three years free of profits tax, moves microenterprise and entrepreneur tax payments to four instalments a year, and raises the tourism tax to 2.5%.

📋 Côte d'Ivoire tax at a glance for 2026

What Côte d'Ivoire taxes, and what it doesn't

Why can a retiree with a big share portfolio pay less here than a salaried manager? Because Ivorian income tax is a set of separate taxes, and the catch-all one is switched off.

Image 1 — Côte d'Ivoire taxes your pay, not your portfolio

The Code général des impôts (CGI) taxes income in categories. The ones that matter for movers:

• Salaries (ITS): if you're domiciled in Côte d'Ivoire, your pay is taxable even when the work is done abroad or the employer is abroad (article 115). A foreign employer doesn't withhold, so you work out the tax yourself and pay it monthly at your local tax office (article 121).

• Pensions (ITS): pensions are taxable for a resident even if the payer is abroad (article 115). Again you calculate and pay the tax yourself (article 122).

• Dividends (IRVM): this tax covers distributions by companies with their registered office in Côte d'Ivoire (article 180). Dividends from a foreign company aren't within it.

• Interest (IRC): 18% on interest from loans, deposits and current accounts, "whoever the depositary" (article 192). If the payer is abroad, you declare it yourself (article 196).

Above these sits the general income tax (IGR), at 2% to 36% on total income. In principle it covers anything the other taxes miss. But article 255 says that, as a transitional measure until the overall reform of the tax is finished, the annual IGR return is suspended. The DGI's own guide says the same, and dates the suspension to the 2017 Finance Law. In practice, then, foreign dividends and gains on foreign shares pay no Ivorian tax. That could change when the IGR reform is completed, so check each year.

👉 Code général des impôts, online edition updated to 3 January 2026 and linked from the DGI website: articles 115, 121, 122, 180, 192, 196, 237 and 255 (in French)

👉 DGI: Impôts et taxes en Côte d'Ivoire, 2025 edition, including the IGR suspension (in French)

When you become tax resident in Côte d'Ivoire, and how you stop

Article 237 treats you as having your usual residence (résidence habituelle) in Côte d'Ivoire if either applies:

• A home: you have a home available to you as owner, usufructuary or tenant. A rented home counts if the lease, or a run of leases, covers a continuous period of at least one year.

• Main place of stay: without such a home, Côte d'Ivoire is the place of your main stay (séjour principal).

Employees on leave abroad who are still paid by their Ivorian employer stay resident too. The law sets no day count, so a one-year lease can make you resident from the start. Without a home, the question is where you spend most of your time.

To stop, give up the home (or let the lease run out) and move your main place of stay elsewhere. There's no exit tax. As a non-resident you're still taxed on pay for work done in Côte d'Ivoire and on pensions paid by an Ivorian payer.

Salary tax (ITS) rates for 2026

ITS is worked out on monthly pay. The base is your gross pay including benefits in kind, with no general allowance (the old 20% allowance went in 2024). Your employer withholds it.

Côte d'Ivoire ITS rates for 2026

Source: CGI article 119 bis, as set by Ordinance 2023-719 from 1 January 2024 and unchanged in 2026.

The tax is then cut by the reduction for family charges (RICF), a fixed monthly amount set by your number of parts. A single person has 1 part and no reduction. A married couple has 2 parts (XOF 11,000 a month), plus half a part for each dependent child, up to 5 parts (XOF 44,000 a month). Retirees over 70 get a further 75% off.

👉 DGI note 00026 of 3 January 2024 on the ITS reform, with worked examples (in French)

Worked example

• You're single, resident and employed in Abidjan for the whole of 2026 on XOF 58.5 million (about US$100k at XOF 585 to the dollar), or XOF 4,875,000 a month.

• Monthly ITS: XOF 26,400 on the 16% band, 117,600 on the 21% band, 384,000 on the 24% band and 693,000 on the 28% band, so XOF 1,221,000. That's XOF 14,652,000 for the year.

• CNPS: 6.3% of the XOF 3,375,000 ceiling is XOF 212,625 a month, or XOF 2,551,500 a year. It isn't deducted from the ITS base.

Your all-in bill is about XOF 17,203,500, or 29.4% of your salary. Married with two children (3 parts), the ITS falls by XOF 264,000 a year. Your employer also pays employer taxes on your pay: 12% of gross for expatriate staff against 2.8% for local staff, on top of its CNPS share.

Freelancing in Côte d'Ivoire

Self-employed people and small businesses are taxed by turnover band (turnover including taxes):

• Up to XOF 50 million: the entrepreneur regime (taxe d'Etat de l'entreprenant above XOF 5 million), at 4% or 5% of turnover.

• XOF 50 million to 200 million: the microenterprise regime, at 6% of turnover. It's 4% if you join an approved management centre (CGA) or use a chartered accountant with a DGI agreement (article 71 bis).

• Above XOF 200 million: the real regimes, taxing profit at 25%.

Professionals aren't shut out. Article 71 ter lets a microenterprise taxpayer carrying on a non-commercial (BNC) profession opt instead for the BNC tax, at 25% of net profit. So a consultant or developer billing US$100k (XOF 58.5 million) a year can pay 6% of turnover. From 2026 the tax is paid in four instalments, by 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 30 November.

Self-employed workers must also join the CNPS scheme for independent workers (RSTI), which the CNPS describes as compulsory. You pay 12% of an income you declare, with a minimum by trade: XOF 12,000 a month for consultants and XOF 18,000 for liberal professions. On the liberal profession minimum, the all-in cost on US$100k is about 6.4%. You'll also pay the annual business licence (patente).

To work for yourself legally you need a residence card in a category that allows it, and a tax registration with the DGI.

👉 CNPS: the independent workers' scheme (RSTI), rates and minimums (in French)

Crypto, investments and pensions

Is crypto taxed in Côte d'Ivoire? There are no crypto tax rules. Crypto isn't a share or a debt, so IRVM and IRC don't reach a gain, and the IGR return is suspended. If you trade as a business, though, profits are business income.

• Ivorian dividends: 17% IRVM for individuals on distributions from 2025 (15% for companies). Dividends from companies listed on the regional stock exchange (BRVM) are taxed at 12% for individuals, until the IGR reform.

• Foreign dividends: outside IRVM, and with no IGR return, not taxed in practice.

• Interest: 18%, including interest on foreign deposits, which you declare yourself. Ivorian bank deposits of up to a year are taxed at 13.5% for individuals, falling to 1% for deposits over five years.

• Share gains: a direct sale of shares without an intermediary falls within IRVM; the 2026 Finance Law sets how the gain is valued. Gains on foreign shares sold through a broker aren't caught.

• Foreign pensions: taxed under ITS on the monthly scale after the first XOF 320,000 a month, with the family reduction and the 75% cut after age 70. You calculate and pay it yourself.

There's no wealth tax and no exit tax. Inheritance tax applies to each heir's share: 1% to 5% for spouses and children, 6% to 8.5% between siblings, and 10% or 12% for others. It can reach foreign shares and other securities in the estate too.

👉 DGI: Impôts et taxes en Côte d'Ivoire, IRVM, IRC and inheritance rates (in French)

👉 DGI: 2026 Finance Law tax annex (annexe fiscale 2026) (in French)

Social security

The Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale (CNPS) runs pensions and family benefits for employees, foreign staff included.

• Pension: 14% of pay, 6.3% from you and 7.7% from your employer. Since 1 January 2023 the ceiling is XOF 3,375,000 a month, so the most you pay is XOF 212,625 a month.

• Employer-only branches: family benefits 5%, maternity 0.75% and work accidents 2% to 5%, on pay up to XOF 75,000 a month.

• Health: universal health cover (CMU) takes a small flat monthly contribution per person.

• Self-employed: the RSTI scheme, covered above.

👉 CNPS: employer and employee contribution rates (in French)

👉 CNPS: new contribution ceilings from 1 January 2023 (in French)

Double tax treaties

Does Côte d'Ivoire have double tax treaties? Yes, but only a small network, and the DGI doesn't publish a list online, so we can't give an official count. Partner governments confirm treaties in force with the UK (signed 1985, in force since 1987 and updated by the multilateral instrument from 2024) and France (signed 1966, amended in 1985 and 1993). The DGI also notes a WAEMU multilateral convention adopted by the West African Economic and Monetary Union states. There's no treaty with the United States that we could confirm.

A treaty can decide which country taxes a salary or pension, and gives relief where both countries tax the same income. Check the treaty with your home country before you rely on it.

👉 GOV.UK: Ivory Coast tax treaties (in force)

👉 impots.gouv.fr: France and Côte d'Ivoire tax convention (in French)

Staying long term: the carte de résident

Côte d'Ivoire has no digital nomad visa. Non-ECOWAS foreigners who stay more than three months need a residence card (carte de résident) from the national identification office, ONECI. The first card costs XOF 300,000 for non-ECOWAS nationals (XOF 150,000 for French nationals).

• every applicant needs a valid passport, a recent residence certificate and the online forms

• workers add a work certificate, traders a trade register extract, and retirees a pension statement

• ECOWAS nationals follow separate rules and don't pay the non-ECOWAS fee

Remote workers have no category of their own, so the usual route is a business registration or a local employer. Rent a home for a year and you're resident, with your pay taxed under ITS.

👉 ONECI: carte de résident, documents and fees (in French)

Who is Côte d'Ivoire good for?

How does Côte d'Ivoire 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 CNPS and RSTI. We convert at XOF 585 to US$1, the midpoint of the BCEAO rates for 19 October 2026 (the CFA franc is pegged to the euro at XOF 655.957).

☑️ Who is Côte d'Ivoire good for? Tax ratings for expats in 2026

Filing and deadlines

Most people never file an annual income tax return in Côte d'Ivoire, because the IGR return is suspended. Tax is paid month by month instead.

• Employees: your employer withholds ITS and pays it over each month (by the 15th of the following month for most employers).

• Foreign salary or pension: you calculate the ITS yourself and pay it at your local tax office within the same monthly deadlines as an employer.

• Foreign interest: you declare the 18% IRC yourself.

• Microenterprise and entrepreneur regimes: annual turnover declaration, then four payments by 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 30 November from 2026.

You'll need a tax identification number (NCC) from the DGI before you register a business or pay tax yourself.

👉 DGI: calendar of tax obligations (in French)

Frequently asked questions

When do I become tax resident in Côte d'Ivoire?

You have your usual residence in Côte d'Ivoire if you have a home available to you there as owner or tenant (a rented home counts if the lease covers at least a continuous year), or if Côte d'Ivoire is your main place of stay. The law sets no day count.

Does Côte d'Ivoire tax foreign income?

It taxes a resident's salary and pensions from abroad under ITS, and foreign interest at 18%. Foreign dividends and gains on foreign shares aren't covered by the withholding taxes, and the general income tax return has been suspended since 2017, so they aren't taxed in practice.

What are the income tax rates in Côte d'Ivoire in 2026?

Salaries and pensions are taxed under ITS on monthly income: 0% up to XOF 75,000, then 16%, 21%, 24% and 28%, and 32% above XOF 8 million a month. A fixed reduction for family charges then applies, up to XOF 44,000 a month.

Is crypto taxed in Côte d'Ivoire?

There are no specific crypto tax rules. A gain on crypto isn't caught by the dividend or interest taxes, and the general income tax return is suspended. Profits from trading crypto as a business are taxed as business income.

Does Côte d'Ivoire have a digital nomad visa?

No. Non-ECOWAS foreigners staying more than three months need a carte de résident from ONECI, which costs XOF 300,000 for the first card. There are categories for workers, traders and retirees, but none for remote workers.

Does Côte d'Ivoire have a tax treaty with the UK?

Yes. The UK and Côte d'Ivoire signed a double taxation convention in 1985, in force since 1987 and updated by the multilateral instrument from 2024. Côte d'Ivoire also has a treaty with France.

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