Living in Congo (Brazzaville): 1987 agreement with France, dividends at 15% or 20%, income tax reform in 2026

Law No. 42 of December 31, 2025, the Finance Law for 2026 (Special Official Gazette No. 3-2026 of January 5, 2026), transposes into Congolese law CEMAC Directive No. 0119/25-UEAC177-CM-42 of January 9, 2025, which amends the chapters of the General Tax Code relating to personal income tax and corporate income tax. On the French side, the tax treaty signed in Brazzaville on November 27, 1987, entered into force on September 1, 1989: it caps the withholding tax on dividends at 15% or 20% and on royalties at 15%.

This page lists these sources. The criteria for tax residency under Congolese law and the applicable tax scale are not detailed here.

Tax residency: what the page details

The criteria for tax residency for individuals under Congolese domestic law are not detailed here. The 2026 reform modifies the chapters of the General Tax Code dedicated to income tax: the definition of tax domicile can be found in the text currently in force at the Congolese tax administration and the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Public Portfolio.

The convention with France provides a residency rule for the application of the treaty. Article 4 defines a resident of a State as any person who, under the laws of that State, is subject to taxation therein. When an individual is resident in both States, they are considered a resident of the State where they have a permanent home; if they have one in both, of the State with which their personal and economic ties are closest; failing that, of the State where they habitually reside; and then of the State of which they are a national.

Income tax reform in the 2026 budget law

The Ministry of Finance website reports an exchange held on September 30, 2025 in Brazzaville between the Government and the private sector. The Minister mentions "the disappearance of this tax [the IRPP] in the 2026 Finance Bill," replaced by "four concepts encompassing the seven categories of income that comprised it":

• the tax on wages and salaries;
• the tax on income from movable capital; ;
• property income tax;
• business profit tax.

According to the same page, these four taxes lose the personal nature of personal income tax (IRPP): marital status, number of children, and family allowances would no longer be taken into account, and the concept of a tax household would disappear. The reform is linked to CEMAC Directive No. 0119/25-UEAC-177-CM-42.

The 2026 Finance Law was subsequently published in the Official Gazette. Article 47, entitled "Transposition of Directive No. 0119/25-UEAC177-CM-42 of January 9, 2025, on the harmonization of income and profit taxation in the CEMAC Member States," amends "Chapters 1 (Personal Income Tax), 2, and 3 (Corporate Income Tax) of Book 1 of the General Tax Code relating to direct taxes." Article 5 stipulates that, for the year 2026, the State will cover all personal income tax and half of the employer contributions for social security and universal health insurance for the first 25,000 taxpayers.

In the speech of October 30, 2025, presenting the draft budget law "on behalf of the Government," the Ministry of Finance wrote that the measures relating to payroll tax "could only be implemented after a transitional period necessary for the completion of studies." It also mentioned "raising the income tax threshold.".

Decree No. 1560 of July 10, 2026, published in the Official Journal No. 30 of July 23, 2026, establishes the template for the annual salary declaration (DAS3): this declaration must include "the tax withheld at source on the gross taxable salary and the effective tax rate." None of the texts consulted provide the tax brackets or rates applicable to individuals; these are not detailed here.

France-Congo Convention of November 27, 1987

The BOFiP (BOI-INT-CVB-COG, in force since 12/09/2012) indicates that the convention was signed on 27 November 1987 in Brazzaville and entered into force on 1 September 1989, following its publication by decree no. 89-657. It covers income tax, inheritance tax, registration fees, and stamp duties. The BOFiP's list of conventions (BOI-ANNX-000306, version of 29/04/2026) classifies it under the heading "IR – S – DE".

Paragraphs 3 and 5 of Article 11 provide for reservations, the details of which are set out in the text of the convention.

Inheritance and real estate

Article 22, paragraph 1, of the convention provides that immovable property forming part of the estate of a person resident in one State and situated in the other State is taxable in that other State. The convention applies to estates opened on or after September 1, 1989 (Article 32).

Inheritance and gift taxes in Congolese law, the purchase of property by a foreigner, the taxation of rents and capital gains on real estate are not detailed here.

Coordination with France

According to the French Tax Administration's Official Bulletin (BOFiP) (BOI-IR-CHAMP-10), Article 4 B of the French General Tax Code (CGI) considers individuals to be tax residents of France if they have their home or principal residence there, if they carry out a professional activity there (whether salaried or not), and if they have the center of their economic interests there. Meeting only one of these criteria is sufficient. Individuals domiciled in France are taxed on all their income from French or foreign sources, subject to international tax treaties (Article 4 A).

The French tax authorities' brochure on form 2047 for foreign income states that, depending on the applicable tax treaty, this income may be taxable in France with a tax credit, or exempt in France but taken into account when calculating the effective tax rate. Leaving France, the exit tax, declaring foreign bank accounts, and the address to provide to the tax authorities are covered in our pages on tax residency, listed at the bottom of this page.

What this page does not cover

It does not detail the criteria for tax residency for individuals under Congolese law, nor the tax scale and rates for income tax on salaries and wages, income tax on movable capital, or property income tax, nor capital gains, Congolese inheritance and gift taxes, nor the implementation date of each measure of the 2026 reform. The full text of the finance law can be found in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Congo (sgg.cg) and on the website of the Ministry of Finance. Balmont Conseil is not a law firm or a local tax advisor: local tax matters must be assessed by a professional based in Congo.

What changes depending on your situation

• Your number of days of presence in Congo and your place of residence, with regard to Article 4 of the convention.
• The nature of your income: salaries, dividends, interest, royalties, rental income.
• The origin of income and the location of assets, particularly real estate.
• Your residency situation in France and Congo, year by year.

The rule depends on your situation. No results are guaranteed.