Addis Ababa

Salary from a foreign employer or fees from foreign clients

Taxed0%–35% progressive (monthly bands)

Employment income is Ethiopian-source when the work is performed in Ethiopia, wherever it is paid (Proclamation 979/2016, Article 6(1)(a)), and non-residents are taxed on Ethiopian-source income (Article 7(2)). So a salary from a foreign employer for work done while living in Ethiopia is taxable from the first day, and once you are resident your worldwide income is taxable anyway (Article 7(1)). Since 8 July 2025 the monthly bands are: ETB 0–2,000 at 0%, 2,001–4,000 at 15%, 4,001–7,000 at 20%, 7,001–10,000 at 25%, 10,001–14,000 at 30% and above 14,000 at 35% (Article 11 as replaced by Proclamation 1395/2025). Costs of earning the salary are not deductible (Article 10(3)). An employee whose employer has no duty to withhold Ethiopian tax must withhold and pay the monthly tax on their own pay (Article 93(1)) and file a declaration within 30 days after the year ends (Article 83(2) as amended). The law gives no foreign tax credit against employment income tax; credits exist only for business income (Article 45) and for investment income (Article 64(3)), so double tax on a salary can be relieved only by a tax treaty (Article 48) where your home country has one. Freelancers with foreign clients earn business income: 0%–35% on annual profit, with 35% above ETB 168,000 (Article 19(2) as amended), or, below ETB 2,000,000 of turnover, 2%–9% of gross sales. That gross-sales option excludes accounting, architecture, consulting, construction, engineering, financial, health and legal services (Article 50 as renumbered). This profile did not check how a foreigner on a tourist visa could get the business licence and taxpayer number needed to register, or whether Ethiopian pension contributions apply.

On the nomad visa

Ethiopia has no digital nomad or remote-work visa. The official e-visa portal lists tourist, investment, work, journalist and conference visas. The tourist e-visa is single-entry for 30 days (US$62) or 90 days (US$152), for tourism or other non-business purposes only. It can be extended online, or in person at the Immigration and Citizenship Service in Addis Ababa, for US$102 (30 days) or US$302 (90 days). The stay has no tax status of its own: more than 183 days in a year makes you resident, and pay for work done in Ethiopia is taxable from the first day.

Dividends, interest, gains, rent and pensions from abroad

Taxed15% on dividends and capital gains, 10% on interest

Residents are taxed on worldwide income (Proclamation 979/2016, Article 7(1)), and the flat Schedule D rates apply to dividends, interest and gains whether they come from Ethiopia or abroad. From 7 August 2025 a resident pays 15% on the gross amount of dividends (previously 10%) and 10% on gross interest (previously 5% on savings deposits and 10% on other interest), under renumbered Articles 57 and 58 as replaced by Proclamation 1395/2025. Gains on shares, bonds and buildings are taxed at 15% (previously 30% on shares and bonds); a building used only as your private residence for 2 years before the sale is excluded (renumbered Article 61). Schedule D tax is final (Article 64(2)). When the payer is a non-resident, you withhold and pay the tax yourself (Article 93(3)). Foreign tax paid on foreign dividends, interest, royalties and gains is credited up to the Ethiopian tax, and any excess cannot be carried forward (Article 64(3)–(4)). Rent from buildings is taxed under the rental schedule at 0%–35% of annual taxable rent (35% above ETB 168,000); the law has no foreign tax credit for that schedule. Only pensions exempted under Ethiopia's own public and private pension laws are tax-free (Article 65(1)(d)). This profile could not confirm whether a foreign pension is taxed as employment income or as 'other income' at 15% (Article 63), or how crypto gains are treated.

Net wealth and inheritance

No wealth taxNo inheritance tax

Ethiopia has no net wealth tax and no inheritance or gift tax. Cash or assets received as a gift or inheritance are exempt from income tax, unless the gift is really pay, rent or business income (Proclamation 979/2016, Article 65(1)). However, a transfer by inheritance or will counts as a disposal by the person who died (Article 67(3)), so 15% capital gains tax can arise on buildings, shares or bonds in the estate. Registering title to property carries a 2% stamp duty on its value (Stamp Duty Proclamation No. 110/1998, schedule item 13). Urban land lease payments and building taxes are set by regional and city governments; this profile did not check them.

Tax resident after

183 days a year

Top income tax rate

35%

When you become tax resident

You are resident if you have a domicile (a permanent home address) in Ethiopia, or if you stay in Ethiopia for more than 183 days, continuously or on separate visits, within one year (Federal Income Tax Proclamation No. 979/2016, Article 5(2)). Ethiopian diplomats and consular staff posted abroad are also resident. In the year you arrive you are treated as resident from the day you first started living in Ethiopia, and in the year you leave only up to your last day there (Article 5(3)–(4)). A tourist e-visa stay of 30 or 90 days does not make you resident on day count alone, but several back-to-back stays adding up to more than 183 days in a year do. Being non-resident does not stop tax on pay for work done in Ethiopia (see remote work).

Top income tax rate

Addis Ababa: the federal income tax law applies and is collected by the Addis Ababa Revenue Bureau, which counts as a tax authority under the Federal Tax Administration Proclamation No. 983/2016, Article 2(4); there is no separate city income tax. The 35% rate applies to monthly employment income above ETB 14,000, and to annual business and rental income above ETB 168,000, from 8 July 2025 (Proclamation 1395/2025). Before that the top band started at ETB 10,900 a month. Regional states apply their own income tax laws, and this profile did not check whether each has adopted the 2025 bands.