Africa

Somalia

Corporate rate
15%
Top personal rate
18%
VAT / GST rate
5%
One-sentence summary Corporate tax: under the Income Tax Act 2025 (effective May 11, 2025), resident corporations pay a tiered rate based on sales - USD 150 flat under USD 10,000, 1.5% between USD 10,000 and 50,000, and 15% above USD 50,000 (Large & Medium Taxpayers) - while non-resident corporations pay a flat 18%. Personal income tax: progressive annual bands from 0% to a top 18% rate for residents, with a flat 18% for non-residents. VAT/consumption tax: 5% sales tax.

Tax System

Somalia taxes resident persons on worldwide income and non-residents on Somalia-source income under the Income Tax Act 2025 (ITA 2025, effective May 11, 2025), administered under a tiered corporate structure: USD 150 flat for annual sales under USD 10,000, 1.5% of sales between USD 10,000 and USD 50,000, and 15% of taxable profit above USD 50,000, while non-resident corporations pay a flat 18%.

Tax Year & Key Deadlines

The tax year is the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December, per Income Tax Regulation (No. 0141, 2025); salaried employers withhold personal income tax monthly and remit by the 15th of the following month, consistent with a recently overhauled (May 2025) tax administration framework still developing procedurally in some respects.

Corporate Tax Rate

A flat USD 150 for annual sales under USD 10,000; 1.5% of sales between USD 10,000 and USD 50,000; and 15% of taxable profit for sales above USD 50,000 (Large and Medium Taxpayers). Non-resident corporations pay a flat 18% rate. Tax is charged on taxable profit (sales less legitimate business expenses), not on gross sales, except at the lowest tier.

Personal Tax Rate

0% on the first USD 1,200, 6% on the next band up to USD 6,000, 12% up to USD 18,000, and 18% on income above USD 18,000. Non-resident individuals pay a flat 18% rate; resident individuals under age 18 pay a flat 20% rate. Employers withhold PIT monthly from salaried employees using equivalent monthly bands (0% up to USD 100/month, 6% up to USD 500, 12% up to USD 1,500, 18% above that), and remit by the 15th of the following month - no deductions are allowed against salaried employment income.

VAT / GST Rate

5% sales tax (reduced from a prior 10% rate around 2025-2026 per Ministry of Finance and Planning data).

Residency

Per Article 77 of the ITA 2025, an individual is resident in Somalia for a year of assessment if any of the following applies: they have a permanent home in Somalia; they are a Somali citizen (unless they have a permanent home outside Somalia available for the whole year); they are present in Somalia for 183 days or more (aggregate) in any 12-month period commencing or ending during the year; or they are a Federal or State Government employee posted abroad. A corporation is resident if incorporated, formed, or established in Somalia, or if its effective management is in Somalia at any time during the year. Resident persons are taxed on worldwide income from employment, business, and investment; non-residents are taxed on Somalia-source income, plus the worldwide income of any Somali permanent establishment (a fixed place of business maintained for 90+ days in any 12-month period).

Permanent Establishment

A non-resident is taxed on Somalia-source income plus the worldwide income of any Somalia permanent establishment, defined under the ITA 2025 as a fixed place of business maintained for 90 days or more in any 12-month period, per Article 77 described elsewhere on this page; a non-resident corporation with such a PE is taxed at the flat 18% non-resident corporate rate on the income attributable to that establishment.

CFC (Controlled Foreign Company) Rules

No CFC-style attribution provision exists in Somalia's Income Tax Act 2025 (ITA 2025), which superseded the prior Revenue Act 2016. Consistent with the finding already confirmed elsewhere on this page: Somalia's tax base is built around a small number of enumerated levies (rental income tax, goods and services tax, payroll tax, non-resident withholding tax, road tax, business profit tax, and capital gains tax) rather than a broader international anti-avoidance framework, with no CFC-style mechanism among them.

Thin Capitalization

No statutory thin capitalization ratio is identified in the ITA 2025 provisions reviewed.

Hybrid Entity Rules

Somalia classifies entities under the ITA 2025 rather than offering an elective check-the-box system, and no ATAD2-style anti-hybrid mismatch regime addressing double-deduction or deduction-without-inclusion outcomes has been identified, consistent with no CFC-style attribution provision existing in Somalia's tax legislation, as described elsewhere on this page; Somalia's tax base is built around a small number of enumerated levies rather than a broader international anti-avoidance framework.

Foreign Bank Account / Foreign Financial Asset Reporting

No domestic FBAR-equivalent regime requires Somali residents to separately disclose foreign financial accounts, and Somalia is not currently a CRS participating jurisdiction, so it does not automatically exchange financial account information with foreign tax authorities under the OECD's Common Reporting Standard. US persons remain independently subject to FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) and potentially Form 8938 regardless of Somalia's own rules.

Participation Exemption

A dedicated participation exemption regime for dividends or capital gains from a qualifying subsidiary is not identified in the ITA 2025 provisions reviewed; confirm current treatment directly with Somalia's Ministry of Finance and Planning before relying on this page.

Foreign Tax Credit

No comprehensive double tax agreement network was identified for Somalia, including after checking the Ministry of Finance Income Tax Manual directly, which does not reference any treaty network, as described elsewhere on this page; given the very recent (May 2025) overhaul of the domestic tax system under the ITA 2025, this is a genuinely evolving area of Somali tax policy, and a foreign tax credit mechanism should be confirmed directly with Somalia's tax administration rather than assumed available.

Treaty Network

No comprehensive double tax agreement network was identified for Somalia, including after checking the Ministry of Finance Income Tax Manual directly, which does not reference any treaty network. Given the very recent (May 2025) overhaul of the domestic tax system under the ITA 2025, this is a genuinely evolving area of Somali tax policy rather than a settled zero - treat it as likely to develop further.

Official tax authority: Ministry of Finance / Inland Revenue Department - mof.gov.so
Sources: Somalia Ministry of Finance / Revenue Directorate - Income Tax Manual for the Income Tax Act 2025 (primary, official), Somalia Revenue Directorate - Direct Tax, Trading Economics - Somalia sales tax rate. Page last verified: August 08, 2026. General information only - confirm current rates with a licensed advisor in this jurisdiction before relying on this page.