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Hiring in Ivory coast
Ivory Coast or Cote d’Ivoire, officially known as the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, is a country in West Africa. Its political capital is Yamoussoukro and its economic capital is Abidjan. Ivory Coast is a high income country. Agriculture is the largest sector of Ivory Coast, whereby it is the largest exporter of Cocoa. Its main trading partners are China, Nigeria, France, and the United States. Global PEO or Employer of Record (EOR) play a pivotal role in providing companies with services related to hiring employees, and ensuring compliance with Ivory Coast’s legal and tax regulations. Employment regulations including probation, holidays and termination are covered by the Labor Code. Labor Code stipulates that employees are entitled to 27 days of annual leave. The Ivory Coast taxes residents on their worldwide income. Global PEO’s or Employer of Record (EOR) facilitate companies by ensuring compliance with Ivory Coast’s Labor Code and tax laws.
statutory labor requirements
Probation Period
- Probation periods are allowed as follows:
-
- hourly employees: 8 days
- monthly paid workers: 1 month
- supervisors, technicians, and similar: 2 months
- engineers, managers, high-level technicians, and similar: 3 months
Annual Leave
- After one year of employment, employees are generally entitled to 26 days of paid annual leave.
- This increases to 27 days after 5 years of service.
Public Holidays
- New Year's Day (1st January)
- Easter Monday (13th April)
- Labor Day (1st May)
- Laylat al-Qadr
- Ascension Day (21st May)
- Eid al-Fitr
- Whit Monday (1st June)
- Eid al-Adha
- Cote d'Ivoire Independence Day (7th August)
- Assumption of Mary (15th August)
- Prophet's Birthday
- All Saints' Day (1st November)
- National Peace Day (15th November)
- Christmas Day (25th December)
Maternity Leave
- Female employees are generally entitled to 14 weeks of paid maternity leave.
Paternity Leave
- There is no paternity leave
Sick Leave
- Employees are generally eligible for at least 5 days of paid sick leave.
Work Hours
- In general, Côte d’Ivoire has a 40-hour work week of 5, 8-hour days
Overtime
- There is a 23.8% premium for overtime work.
Notice Period
- The period of notice is as follows:
- 8 days, for those with up to 6 months of service in the undertaking;
- 15 days, for between 6 months and 1 year of service;
- 1 month, for between 1 and 6 years of service;
- 2 months, for between 6 and 11 years of service;
- 3 months, for between 11 and 16 years of service; and
- 4 months, for over 16 years of service.
Severance
- Employees are generally eligible for severance as follows:
- up to 5 years’ service: 30% of monthly wage
- 6-10 years’ service: 35% of monthly wage
- 10+ years’ service: 40% of monthly wage
income tax
- The Ivory Coast taxes residents on their worldwide income.
- Individuals resident in the Ivory Coast are subject to specific direct income tax, depending on the kind of revenue earned, and to general income tax (IGR).
Salary Tax (IS)
- 1.5% of 80% of gross income (GI) is levied as IS, which is withheld by employers.
National contribution (CN)
- 80% of gross income is taxed as CN at progressive rates from 1.5% to 10%, based on varying tax brackets as shown below.
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National Contribution |
|||
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Taxable base (XOF) |
Tax rate (%) |
Variable (XOF) |
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|
Over |
Not over |
||
|
0 |
600,000 |
0 |
0 |
|
600,000 |
1,560,000 |
1.5 |
9,000 |
|
1,560,000 |
2,400,000 |
5 |
63,600 |
|
2,400,000 |
10 |
183,600 |
|
deductible expenses
Employment Expenses
- Individuals may take a standard 15% IGR deduction on their gross income for business-related expenses, such as travel fees, representation costs, and business materials.
Personal Deductions
- Although the deduction of specific non-business expenses is permitted under tax law, the practice rarely is used since the results usually are less favorable than the result from taking the standard deduction.
Standard Deduction
- A general or standard deduction of 20% is applied to gross taxable income and is the highly recommended tax choice for resident aliens.
Personal Allowances
- The number dependents a taxpayer has does not affect IS, CN, or CNPS but is reflected in the progressive IGR schedule.
- IGR allowances are based on deductions ratios called ‘parts’ that relate to the taxpayer’s family status.
- Unmarried taxpayers may deduct one part, married taxpayers may deduct two parts, and taxpayers may add one-half part for each dependent child, up to a maximum per family of five parts
- Starting in 2013, the IGR deduction for dependents is extended to both employed men and women.
- In the past, only men benefitted from the dependent deduction pertaining to marriage and children.
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Deductible Expenses |
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Employment Expenses |
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Personal Deductions |
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Standard Deductions |
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Personal Allowances |
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immigration
- The Ivory Coast has a specific process for foreign nationals who wish to enter the country for various purposes. The main types of visas are as follows:
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- Short-term visa: valid for up to three months
- Long stay visa: valid for a maximum of one year
- Work contract visa: validity depends on the duration of the work contract
- The work contract visa is the appropriate choice for foreign employees
- The first requirement for foreign nationals is to obtain a job from a company in Côte d’Ivoire.
- Having a job with an established company is essential because the employer will play a role in the application process.
- Several documents are required in addition to the application.
- These documents include:
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- A passport with at least six months of validity and one blank page
- Four copies of the foreign worker’s employment contract
- A copy of the employee’s resume
- A police background check from the employee’s country of residence
- A medical certificate including proof of immunization against yellow fever
- Professional references, such as the employee’s diploma and any relevant certifications
- In some cases, the employee’s documents may need to be translated into French.
- An employee’s nearest consulate or embassy will be able to provide information regarding specific requirements, including the potential need for additional documents.
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Type of Visa/Permit |
Documentation |
Validity |
Eligibility |
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Short-term visa |
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3 months |
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Work Contract Visa |
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1 year |
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value added tax
- VAT is a non-cumulative tax levied on the sale of goods and services at the rate of 18%.
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VAT |
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Standard Rate |
18% |
withholding tax
WHTs are levied as follows:
-
- Impôt sur le revenu des valeurs mobilières (IRVM): 15% on dividends and directors’ fees.
- Impôt sur le revenue des créances (IRC): 18% on interest payments, reduced to 13.5% (individuals) and 16.5% (businesses) on bank deposit interest.
- The revenue realized by individuals on Treasury Bonds is exempted from tax.
- Foreign banks are subject to 18% tax on loan interest or 9% on equipment loans with minimum three-year terms.
- Impôt sur les benefices non commerciaux (BNC): 25% of 80% of revenues on royalties, licence fees, and management and service fees paid by Ivorian companies to foreign companies (effective rate: 20% of net amount paid).
- Interest on certificates of deposit (bons de caisse): 25%.
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WHT |
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Dividends |
15% |
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Interest |
18%/13.5%/16.5%/25% |
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Royalties |
25% (of 80% of revenues on royalties) |
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Fees for Management and Technical Services |
20% |
termination
A contract of employment can terminate, at the initiative of the employee, in certain circumstances, namely:
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- the expiration of a fixed-term contract;
- mutual agreement;
- major force.
- When an employee, signed with an open-ended contract for a specified period and for the temporary replacement of a worker, has been working for at least 6 months in the company, he/she can terminate the contract unilaterally.
- The period of notice is as follows:
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- 8 days, for those with up to 6 months of service in the undertaking;
- 15 days, for between 6 months and 1 year of service;
- 1 month, for between 1 and 6 years of service;
- 2 months, for between 6 and 11 years of service;
- 3 months, for between 11 and 16 years of service; and
- 4 months, for over 16 years of service.
- Employees are generally eligible for severance as follows:
-
- up to 5 years’ service: 30% of monthly wage
- 6-10 years’ service: 35% of monthly wage
- 10+ years’ service: 40% of monthly wage
statutory benefits
- These are mandatory benefits as postulated by law
- These include probationary period, annual leave, public holidays, sick leave, maternity leave, overtime pay, notice period, and severance pay
- Statutory benefits also include social security benefits
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Statutory Benefits |
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Probationary Period |
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Annual Leave |
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Public Holidays |
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Maternity Leave |
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Sick Leave |
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Overtime Pay |
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Notice Period |
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Severance Pay |
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Social Security Benefits |
payments and invoicing
- The taxable period in the Ivory Coast is the calendar year.
- Employers must calculate and withhold taxes due by employees, and they must file monthly IS returns for both employee tax and the employer’s payroll tax.
- Adjustment declarations are filed annually by 30 June for companies’ subject to audit requirements and 30 May for the others.
- Employees are not required to file and pay the payroll tax when their employer is not in the country.
- Filing of IGR single return for individuals is suspended until an effective reform to modernize this tax.
- A husband and wife are taxed separately.
- The husband’s salary is taxed with regard to the relevant deductions for dependents (marriage and children).
- Employed women are also taxed with regard to the same deductions for dependents (marriage and children) as their husbands'. Husband and wife, however, may also file jointly.
employee accruals
| Christmas Bonus% |
|
| Christmas Bonus Over Vacations % |
0% |
| Severance per Year % |
Employees are entitled to 30% of their annual salary (30% of monthly salary) |
| Vacations % | Employees are entitled to 26 days of paid annual leave (7.12% of annual salary) |
| Notice % |
Employees are entitled to 15 days of notice period (4.1% of annual salary) |
| Christmas Bonus Over Notifications% | 0% |
| Vacations Plus% | 0% |
| Total percentage of Salary (yearly) | The total employment accruals as a percentage of salary per anum are equal to 11.22% plus 305 of 1 months salary. |
employer accruals
Additional information (Country Accruals)
| Monthly ceiling on retirement fund | XOF2700000 |
| Social Security | 7.70% |
| Maternity leave | 14weeks |
| Christmas Bonus | |
| Vacations | 8.77% |
| Description |
Employees must contribute to the social security system (Caisse Nationale de Prevoyance Sociale or CNPS) together with the employer. The employees only pay 6.3% for the CNPS Retirement Fund and the employer pays 7.7% of the taxable salary to the CNPS Retirement Fund (total 14%). The other contributions are paid by the employer (i.e. family allowances 5.75%, work injury from 2% to 5%). The monthly ceiling for the CNPS Retirement Fund is XOF 2,700,000, and the monthly ceiling for the other contributions is XOF 70,000.
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Employer Accruals Additional information
| Employment Accruals | ||
| Annual Leave | After one year of employment, employees are generally entitled to 26 days of paid annual leave. | This equals 7.12% (26/365 days) of annual income |
| Maternity Leave | Female employees are generally entitled to 14 weeks of paid maternity leave. |
This equals 26.9% (14/52 weeks) of annual income |
| Paternity Leave | Female employees are generally entitled to 14 weeks of paid maternity leave. |
This equals 26.9% (14/52 weeks) of annual income |
| Sick Leave | Employees are generally eligible for at least 5 days of paid sick leave. |
This equals 1.36% (5/365 days) of annual income |
| Overtime | There is a 23.8% premium for overtime work. | Depends on the number of overtime hours worked |
| Severance | Employees are generally eligible for severance as follows: • up to 5 years’ service: 30% of monthly wage • 6-10 years’ service: 35% of monthly wage • 10+ years’ service: 40% of monthly wage |
This equals 30% 0f monthly salary |
| Social Security | The employer pays 7.7% of the taxable salary to the CNPS Retirement Fund (total 14%). The other contributions are paid by the employer (i.e. family allowances 5.75%, work injury from 2% to 5%). |
This equals 18.45% of annual income |
