Indirect tax - Benin

Value Added Tax (VAT) is the main type of indirect taxation in Benin.

The Beninese tax legislation does not provide any limit for this tax. However, to be able to invoice VAT, the annual turnover of the company must be over 50.000.000 XOF

N/A.

Value Added Tax due on sales of goods and services rendered through e-commerce platforms is liquidated, declared, and paid back by the operators of the said platforms on behalf of the suppliers.

The Value Added Tax due on commissions received on sales made in the Republic of Benin through e-commerce platforms is declared and paid back by the operators of the said platforms.

For fulfilling their tax obligations above, the operators of e-commerce platforms are required to apply for registration with the tax authorities.

Without prejudice to the tax penalties provided for, failure to comply with the obligations set out above shall result in the suspension of access to the platform from Beninese territory.

When the taxable person is not domiciled in the Republic of Benin, he must designate a representative in the Republic of Benin who undertakes to carry out all the necessary formalities and to make all the payments due.
In the absence of a fiscal representative, the recipient of the service must self-assess and pay the VAT on behalf of the third party.

VAT tax return must be submitted monthly, generally the 10th of each month.

The late submission of declarations is sanctioned by a late payment penalty of 20% of the amount resulting from the late declaration.

The penalty rises to 40% of the amount of duties resulting from the declaration when the declaration has not been filed two (02) months after the filing date.

No.

Yes, in case of tax audits or fraud.

• Inaccuracies or omissions in a declaration or a document indicating elements to be retained for the assessment or liquidation of the tax lead to the application of a 20% penalty to the undeclared rights.
• This penalty is increased to 40%:
• in case of inaccuracy in the documents and written information provided in support of the declaration of actual profit.
• if the taxpayer does not establish his good faith.
• It is increased to 80%:
  • in case of fraudulent maneuvers.
  • in the event of automatic taxation for failure to file a declaration within eight (8) days of a formal notice.

No.

• The order number and date of the invoice.
• The name or company name, address, unique tax identification number and trade registration number or the registration number in the roll of the professional association of the supplier.
• The name or company name, address, and unique tax identification number of the client.
• The nature and purpose of the transaction.
• The quantity and precise designation per unit of the goods and services sold.
• The unit and global price.
• The price excluding value added tax.

The VAT declaration can be done online on the portal “e-services benin”.
Every taxable person for VAT purposes is required to file a return in accordance with the prescribed model, indicating:
a) the amounts of his taxable and non-taxable transactions.
b) the gross amount of the tax assessed.
c) the details of the deductions made.
d) the amount of tax due or, if applicable, the tax credit.

However, the tax authorities shall check the declarations submitted by the taxpayer in order to assess their accuracy and sincerity from the premises of the authorities without prior notice.

To this end, it may ask the taxpayer for any information, justification or clarification relating to the declarations made or the documents filed.