Tax & Compliance

How Rwanda taxes a business

A company registered in Rwanda is taxed in the same way whoever owns it. It pays corporate income tax on its worldwide profit, charges and recovers value added tax, withholds pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) from its employees and withholding tax from many of its payments, pays customs duties and excise at the border, and pays property tax and trading licence tax to its District. A foreign company that trades in Rwanda through a branch or other permanent establishment pays corporate income tax on the profit of that establishment. There is no separate tax regime for foreign-owned companies; the incentives in the Investment Code are open to any investor registered with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), foreign or Rwandan.

The national taxes are administered by the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), which the statutes call the Tax Administration, through its e-tax portal. RRA also runs customs and the Electronic Single Window, certifies the electronic invoicing systems every business must use, and collects the decentralised taxes on behalf of the Districts and the City of Kigali. Tax policy, and the Ministerial Orders that fill in the detail of each law, come from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN). The taxpayer identification number (TIN) is issued by the Registrar General when the company is registered, so tax compliance begins on the day the company exists; the recurring deadlines are gathered in Compliance calendar after registration.

Profits and turnover: corporate income tax and VAT

Corporate income tax is charged at 28% under Article 48 of Law N° 027/2022 of 20/10/2022 establishing taxes on income, as amended by Law N° 051/2023 of 05/09/2023, which cut the rate from 30% and came into force on 14 September 2023. Newly listed companies pay 20% or 25% for five years, deposit-taking microfinance institutions pay 0%, small businesses pay 3% of turnover and micro-enterprises a flat annual amount. Expenses are deductible if incurred for the business, but donations above 1% of turnover, related-party management, technical and royalty fees above 2% of turnover, and interest on related-party loans above four times paid-up equity are not. Losses carry forward for five years. Since 25 September 2026, Ministerial Order N° 009/26/10/TC treats a foreign-incorporated company as resident if any one of four links to Rwanda exists, and requires accounts certified by an RRA-approved professional where turnover reaches RWF 1 billion. See Corporate income tax, and Investment incentives for the preferential rates and tax holidays.

VAT is charged at 18%, or 0% on exports and other zero-rated supplies, under Law N° 049/2023 of 05/09/2023, as amended by Law N° 009/2025 of 27/05/2025, which removed several exemptions and set end dates for others. A business registers once its turnover exceeds RWF 20 million in a year or RWF 5 million in a quarter, files quarterly up to RWF 200 million of turnover and monthly above it, and must issue every invoice from an RRA-certified electronic invoicing system under Ministerial Order N° 006/26/10/TC. Non-resident suppliers of online services must register under Ministerial Order N° 004/26/10/TC, failing which the bank or payment provider withholds the VAT. See VAT and electronic invoicing.

Money leaving Rwanda: withholding tax, treaties and transfer pricing

When a Rwandan company pays dividends, interest, royalties or service fees to a non-resident, it withholds 15% under Article 60 of the income tax law and pays it within 15 days after the month of payment. A branch pays the same 15% on profits it repatriates. Lower rates apply to listed securities held by residents of Rwanda or the East African Community, to Treasury bonds of three years or more, and to some investors registered under the Investment Code. Rwanda's tax treaties, which RRA lists on its website, reduce the rate where the recipient produces a tax residence certificate with the withholding tax return. The rates, exemptions, the mechanics of withholding and the treaty network are in Withholding taxes and tax treaties.

Dealings with related parties must be priced at arm's length. Ministerial Order N° 003/26/10/TC of 29/04/2026 requires a transfer pricing policy, a local file and a master file, extends the rules to any transaction with a person in a regime taxing at 15% or less, requires documentation to be produced within seven days of a request, and offers advance pricing agreements; smaller taxpayers below the thresholds in Article 19 are relieved of the documentation duty but not of the arm's length rule. These rules, and Rwanda's position outside the OECD Inclusive Framework, are covered in Transfer pricing and international tax.

People, assets and goods

Individuals resident in Rwanda, which includes anyone with a permanent residence or habitual abode there or present for 183 days in a tax period, are taxed on worldwide income. Employers withhold PAYE monthly or quarterly at 0%, 10%, 20% and 30%, with the top rate applying above RWF 200,000 a month, and add the value of a company car and housing at 10% and 20% of cash pay. Expatriates are taxed under the same rules as Rwandans, and the employer also pays pension, maternity and occupational hazard contributions to the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB). See Personal income tax, PAYE and expatriates.

Capital gains on direct and indirect transfers of shares, in Rwanda or abroad, have been taxed since the 2022 income tax law, with the tax withheld by the Rwandan company whose shareholders change, and since 29 May 2025 the rate is 10% (previously 5%) and the withholding rule also reaches licences, debt instruments, options, guarantees and similar assets; a 1.5% digital services tax has been enacted but awaits its implementing Order; excise duty, tourism tax and a series of levies apply to particular goods and services; and property tax, rental income tax and trading licence tax are paid to the Districts. These are in Capital gains, property and other taxes. Goods imported into Rwanda bear the East African Community Common External Tariff of 0%, 10%, 25% or 35%, together with 18% import VAT and a 5% withholding tax on the CIF value of commercial imports, with exemptions for registered investors processed through the Electronic Single Window: see Customs and EAC trade.

Compliance, audits and disputes

Law N° 020/2023 of 31/03/2023 on tax procedures governs registration, records, assessments, audits, appeals and recovery. Records must be kept for ten years. An audit starts with seven working days' notice and leads to a draft rectification note, to which the taxpayer has 30 days to reply after a comprehensive or transfer pricing audit and five days after an issue-oriented or refund audit. A taxpayer may appeal to the Commissioner General within 30 days of the assessment; if the Commissioner General does not decide within the time the law allows, the appeal is deemed upheld. The case may then go to amicable settlement or to court within 30 days. Late payment carries interest of 0.5% to 1.5% a month, capped at the amount of the tax, and late declaration a fine of 20% to 60% of the tax. The detail is in Tax administration, audits and disputes, and challenges in court are also covered in Regulatory, tax and public law disputes.

How to use this chapter

A new investor should read Corporate income tax and VAT and electronic invoicing first, because registration for both, and the electronic invoicing system, are needed from the first sale. Before agreeing any management fee, loan or licence with a foreign parent, read Withholding taxes and tax treaties and Transfer pricing and international tax together: the 15% withholding tax, the 2% cap on related-party fees, the 4:1 debt-to-equity limit and the documentation rules all bite on the same payments. Employers of expatriates should read Personal income tax, PAYE and expatriates with Social security and RSSB contributions. Exit planning starts on entry: the 10% capital gains tax on direct and indirect share transfers is in Capital gains, property and other taxes, and importers should read Customs and EAC trade. Tax administration, audits and disputes explains what happens when RRA asks questions. Each section ends with the related Be Rwanda Wise FAQs, the official sources and a question you can put to Rwandabot, the AI legal-information chatbot, about your own facts. Figures are stated at 10 October 2026. Several dates fall within the next two years, among them the step in the pension contribution rate on 1 January 2027 and the end of the VAT exemptions for energy equipment and electric vehicles on 30 June 2028, and the digital services tax still awaits its Order, so check the position again before relying on it for a later transaction.