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- Basic Facts
- Statutory Labor Requirements
- Employee Income Tax In Brazil
- Employee Social Security In Brazil
- Deductible Expenses In Brazil
- Immigration In Brazil
- Value Added Tax (VAT) In Brazil
- Withholding Tax In Brazil
- Terminating Employee In Brazil
- Statutory Employee Benefits In Brazil
- Payroll In Brazil
- Ease Of Doing Business In Brazil
- Business Opportunities In Brazil Section
- Why Use Global Expansion To Hire Your Employees In Brazil
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BASIC COUNTRY FACTS
Gabonese Republic
Libreville
- French
2.119 million
Central African CFA franc
.ga
+241
Central African CFA franc
STATUTORY LABOR REQUIREMENTS
Probation Period
- Probationary periods may not exceed 6 months.
Annual Leave
- In general, employees are entitled to 24 days of paid annual leave.
Public Holidays
- New Year's Day (1st January)
- Easter Monday (13th April)
- Women's Day (17th April)
- Labour Day (1st May)
- Ascension Day (21st May)
- Eid al-Fitr
- Whit Monday (1st June)
- Eid al-Adha
- Assumption of Mary (15th August)
- National Day (16th to 17th August)
- All Saints' Day (1st November)
- Christmas Day (25th December)
Maternity Leave
- Female employees are generally entitled to 14 weeks of paid maternity leave:
- 6 weeks of leave prior to the birth and
- 8 weeks’ after
Paternity Leave
- Paternity leave is covered in the family allowance leave.
- 10 days of paid leave may be taken for family events.
Sick Leave
- Employees are entitled to up to 6 months of paid sick leave.
Work Hours
- The workday in Gabon is 8 hours with a 5-day work week.
Overtime
- A maximum of 20 hours of overtime per week in cases of exceptional, urgent or seasonal work due to extraordinary overload of work or to the necessity of maintaining/increasing production level, or lack of staff.
Notice Period
- Generally, employees must be notified of termination according to the following schedule:
- less than 1 year of service: 15 days
- 1 to 3 years of service: 1 month
- 3 to 5 years of service: 2 months
- 5 to 10 years of service: 3 months
- 10 to 15 years of service: 4 months
- 15 to 20 years of service: 5 months
- 20 to 30 years of service: 6 months
Severance
- Employees are entitled to severance pay after completing 2 years of service
- Severance pay is as follows
-
- 0.4 months of pay after 2 years of employment
- 0.8 months of pay after 4 years of employment
- 1 month of pay after 5 years of service
- 2 months of pay after 10 years of service
- 4 months of pay after 20 years of service
13th Month Salary in Brazil
- No
- There is no statutory requirement to pay the 13th or 14th month salary.
- There is no evidence that it is a customary payment.
INCOME TAX
- Residents are taxed on worldwide net income.
- Non-residents are taxed only on Gabon-source income.
- Individuals having their usual abode or spending at least six months in Gabon are considered resident.
- An individual normally is considered to have his/her usual abode in Gabon if his/her principal residence, main business or professional activity or center of financial interests is located in Gabon.
- Taxable income includes employment income, investment income, capital gains, income from real estate and business income.
- The individual tax rates on ordinary income are progressive and range from 0% to 35% for both residents and non-residents.
|
Taxable Income (XAF) |
Rate (%) |
|
0 – 1 500 000 |
0% |
|
1 500 001 – 1 920 000 |
5% |
|
1 920 001 – 2 700 000 |
10% |
|
2 700 001 – 3 600 000 |
15% |
|
3 600 001 – 5 160 000 |
20% |
|
5 160 001 – 7 500 000 |
25% |
|
7 500 001 – 11 000 000 |
30% |
|
Over 11 000 001 |
35% |
DEDUCTIBLE EXPENSES
Personal Deductions
- Deductions and allowances are available mainly based on family situations and include alimony, pension contributions (subject to limits), etc.
Business Deductions
- Expenses are deductible unless specifically prohibited under the General Tax Code (GTC), e.g. due to lack of documentation, the nature of the expense or where a specific threshold is exceeded.
|
Deductible Expenses |
|
|
Personal Deductions |
|
|
Business Deductions |
|
IMMIGRATION
- Gabonese authorities issue two types of visas, which vary according to the duration of the permissible stay in Gabon.
- The following are the types of visas:
-
- Tourist visa (visa touriste)
- Business visa (visa d’affaires)
- A tourist visa is granted to non-professional visitors.
- It has a duration of one month.
- This initial period can be extended to a maximum of three months.
- A business visa is granted to foreign workers or businesspersons coming into Gabon for a period that does not exceed three months.
- They are exempt from the entry authorization requirement.
- However, they must state in writing their qualifications and describe the contacts they will meet during their stay in Gabon.
- For individuals who will stay in Gabon for a period longer than three months for the performance of a remunerated activity, the following actions must be taken:
-
- Their employer must apply to the Ministry of Labor for an employment authorization (if the employee is less than 60 years of age) and a foreign worker card.
- They must apply and submit appropriate documentation to the immigration authorities for an entry authorization for the long term.
- They must apply to the immigration authorities for a residency card and an exit visa if applicable
|
Type of Visa/Permit |
Documentation |
Validity |
Eligibility |
|
Tourist Visa |
|
1 month (can be extended to a maximum of 3 months) |
|
|
Business Visa |
|
Maximum 3 months |
|
|
Work Permit |
|
Varies |
|
VALUE ADDED TAX
- VAT is imposed on the supply of goods and services in Gabon and on the import of goods or services.
- The standard rate is 18%.
- A reduced rate of 10% applies to some goods, including mineral water produced in Gabon, imported meat and chickens, sugar, laptops and desktops, canned vegetables and fruits and replacement parts for cars, etc.
- A 5% rate applies to cement, and a 0% rate applies to qualifying exports that have been properly declared to customs and international carriages.
|
VAT |
|
|
Standard Rate |
18% |
|
Reduced Rate |
10% |
|
Zero Rate |
0% |
WITHHOLDING TAX
Dividends
- A 20% rate applies to dividends paid to shareholders.
- However, under the “parent-subsidiary regime,” a 10% rate applies to dividends paid to corporate shareholders that are resident in Gabon or another Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) state (i.e. the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, comprised of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo (Brazzaville)) where:
-
- The shareholder holds at least 25% of the shares of the payer
- The head offices of the shareholder and the payer are in Gabon or another CEMAC state
- The shares remain registered in the name of the shareholder for at least two consecutive years.
Interest
- Interest paid by a Gabonese company to a non-resident entity is subject to a 20% WHT on the gross amount paid (excluding tax on turnover).
Royalties
- Royalties paid by a Gabonese company to a non-resident entity, as well as commissions, consultancy fees and fees for services performed in Gabon, are subject to a 20% WHT
Technical Service Fees
- Technical service fees paid by a Gabonese company to a resident entity that is subject to corporate income tax but not to value-added tax (VAT) are subject to a 9.5% WHT.
- Technical service fees paid by a Gabonese company to a non-resident entity are subject to a 20% WHT.
- If the technical services performed by a resident or non-resident entity are used in Gabon, the fees also are subject to an 18% VAT.
|
Payment |
Residents |
Non residents |
|
Dividends |
10%/20% |
10%/20% |
|
Interest |
20% |
20% |
|
Royalties |
- |
20% |
|
Technical Service Fees |
9.5% |
20% |
TERMINATION
Generally, employees must be notified of termination according to the following schedule:
-
- less than 1 year of service: 15 days
- 1 to 3 years of service: 1 month
- 3 to 5 years of service: 2 months
- 5 to 10 years of service: 3 months
- 10 to 15 years of service: 4 months
- 15 to 20 years of service: 5 months
- 20 to 30 years of service: 6 months
- Employees are entitled to severance pay after completing 2 years of service
- Severance pay is as follows
-
- 0.4 months of pay after 2 years of employment
- 0.8 months of pay after 4 years of employment
- 1 month of pay after 5 years of service
- 2 months of pay after 10 years of service
- 4 months of pay after 20 years of service
STATUTORY BENEFITS
- These are mandatory benefits as postulated by law
- These include probationary period, annual leave, public holidays, sick leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, overtime pay, notice period, and severance pay
- Statutory benefits also include social security benefits
|
Statutory Benefits |
|
Probationary Period |
|
Annual Leave |
|
Public Holidays |
|
Maternity Leave |
|
Paternity Leave |
|
Sick Leave |
|
Overtime Pay |
|
Notice Period |
|
Severance Pay |
|
Social Security Benefits |
PAYMENTS AND INVOICING
- The tax year is the calendar year
- Married persons file a joint tax return.
- In specific cases, they may file a separate return.
- The income tax return generally must be filed before 1 March of the year following the tax year.
- Tax on employment income withheld by the employer from the employee’s salary during a month is remitted to the tax administration by the 15th day of the following month.
- The tax authorities will issue a tax notice for any remaining tax to be paid within two months
- Taxpayers who file their tax returns late are subject to a 5% penalty; those who fail to file their returns are subject to a 100% penalty.
- Special penalties may apply in the case of bad faith or abuse of law.
EASE OF DOING BUSINESS
- The ease of doing business index is an index created by Simeon Djankov, an economist at the Central and Eastern Europe sector of the World Bank Group.
- Higher rankings (a low numerical value) indicate better, usually simpler, regulations for businesses and stronger protections of property rights.
- According to the World Bank Gabon ranked 169th in the World in 2019 in terms of ease of doing business.
