Shall a foreign employee, assigned to Senegal to perform a contract signed between its employer and a local company for less than 90 days, file personal income tax in Senegal?

It depends on whether there is a Double Tax Treaty (DTT) between Senegal and the country where the employee assigned resides.

 1. If there is a DTT between Senegal and the country of residency

Article 48 of the Senegalese Tax Code provides that, unless otherwise regulated by DTTs, any individual whose tax domicile is located abroad (outside Senegal) is, whatever their nationality, liable to income tax for their income that is derived from Senegal.

In most DTTs signed by the Senegalese Government, no personal income tax shall be filed in Senegal when the foreign employee resides less than 183 days in Senegal.

That is the case when the employee is from Belgium, UK, Italy, Luxembourg, etc. …

2. If there is no DTT: a German employee assigned to Senegal

 2.1 Based on the Senegalese Tax Code

 Article 164.2.b of the Senegalese Tax Code regulates that the salaries and wages paid to employees domiciled abroad (outside Senegal) are taxable in Senegal provided that:

• the employer is domiciled or established in Senegal; or
• the paid activity is carried out or performed in Senegal.

The same provisions are stated by the Tax Authorities in written opinions, notably the letter of the General Director of the Tax Office n°814 MEFP/DGID/DLEC/BL.F.DIR dated 20 June 2016.

Since there is no DTT between Senegal and the country where the foreign employee is coming from, the activities performed in Senegal by said employee are subject to personal income tax according to the above-mentioned Article 164 of the Senegalese Tax Code.

 2.2 The difficulties or hindrance, in practice, in submitting the personal income tax return for foreign employees who are residing in Senegal for a short period of time

 In the scenario that the Senegalese company is not paying the salaries to the employee and under the assumption that the employer that is paying the salaries is not established in Senegal, neither the foreign company nor the Senegalese company shall be obliged to withhold the tax that the employee shall pay in Senegal.

The employee shall file their personal income tax personally for themselves and on their own behalf.

However, to do so, they must register with the Senegalese Tax Office and obtain a tax identity number, which is not particularly practical to fulfil given the short time of the stay in Senegal.

That is why most of the foreign employees do not file personal tax returns and the tax administration is not particularly strict in this regard. That said, some foreign employees do decide to file.

From our experience, we have never seen or witnessed a direct tax control that has caused an adjustment here.

Nota bene: By tolerance of the administrative authorities, a foreign employee who performs a mission by its foreign employer for less than 90 days neither needs a work permit in Senegal nor a residence permit under the immigration law.

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