Kisangani

Salary from a foreign employer or fees from foreign clients

Taxed3%–40% progressive, with total tax capped at 30% of taxable income; small freelancers 2% of turnover

The IRPP replaced the old schedular taxes (including the IPR on salaries) on 1 January 2026 (Law No 23/053, Articles 152–153). It is charged on the sum of a resident's net income in all categories, from Congolese or foreign sources (Articles 58–59). Because working from the DRC is itself a residence test, a remote employee or freelancer who lives and works there is normally resident and taxed on the foreign salary or fees. The scale is 3% up to CDF 1,944,000, 15% to CDF 21,600,000, 30% to CDF 43,200,000 and 40% above, and total tax can never exceed 30% of taxable income (Article 118). At the central bank's rate of CDF 2,261.60 per US dollar on 2026-10-28, the 40% band starts at about US$19,100. Tax is cut by 2% for each dependant, up to 9 (Article 123). A Congolese employer withholds the tax monthly (Article 119). A foreign employer does not, so you file a return by 30 April of the following year and pay with it. Freelancers are taxed as individual businesses: below CDF 25,000,000 of turnover a micro-enterprise pays a fixed amount, and up to CDF 300,000,000 a small business pays 2% of turnover for services (see regimes). Above that, net profit goes on the scale with a minimum of 1% of turnover (Article 122). Tax treaties prevail (Article 59), but this profile did not check which treaties are in force. Employers established in the DRC also pay a separate 25% levy on expatriates' gross pay (Articles 145–148); it does not reach foreign employers with no establishment there. Social security for people paid from abroad was not reviewed. The 2026 Finance Law (Law No 25/060 of 29 December 2025) amended Law No 23/053, but its text could not be found, so check for changes.

On the nomad visa

The DRC has no digital nomad or remote-work visa. The UK government says British visitors must get a visa before travelling, through the DRC embassy, and should allow 2 to 3 weeks. A visa has no tax status of its own: working from the DRC can make you resident from day one. The UK FCDO advises against all travel to the provinces of Haut-Uélé, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Maniema, Tanganyika and Haut-Lomami, within 50km of the Central African Republic border and to part of Mai-Ndombe. It advises against all but essential travel to the N'djili and Kimbanseke districts of Kinshasa south of the airport road.

Dividends, interest, gains, rent and pensions from abroad

Taxed3%–40% progressive, capped at 30% of taxable income; 20% withheld when a Congolese payer pays

Capital income (dividends, bond interest, interest on loans and deposits whoever the depositary is) and capital gains on movable or immovable property, including shares, are IRPP categories (Articles 72–82). A resident is taxed on them from any source, as part of total income on the progressive scale with the 30% cap. A Congolese payer withholds 20% (Article 120), which counts towards the final tax (Article 121). Foreign dividends, interest and gains are paid gross, so you declare them on the 30 April return. The law exempts interest on savings accounts (it does not say whether foreign accounts count), Congolese government bond interest (Article 80) and the gain on selling your main home (Article 83). The IRPP chapter as read here has no credit for foreign tax outside treaties, so double taxation is possible. Pensions of any kind are taxed with salaries (Article 68). Pensions paid under old-age pension laws are exempt (Article 69), but the law does not say whether foreign state pensions qualify. Private rental income is not one of the IRPP categories: rent from property in the DRC bears the 22% rental income tax (IRL) under the 2023 Code des impôts, and how rent from property abroad is treated is unclear. Crypto-assets are not mentioned.

Net wealth and inheritance

No wealth taxNo inheritance tax

The DRC has no net wealth tax and no tax on estates, inheritances or gifts as such; the 2023 Code des impôts lists none, and heirs only answer for the deceased's unpaid taxes up to their share (Article 81 bis of Law No 004/2003). Transferring a land title, including by succession or gift, triggers proportional registration duties (droits proportionnels d'enregistrement), and communes charge a tax on succession certificates, under the 2013 nomenclatures of central and provincial levies. Their rates are set by separate orders and were not checked, nor were later updates to the nomenclatures. Property tax (impôt foncier) is a provincial tax: a fixed annual amount by type of property and rank of locality (by built area for villas), with rates set by provincial edict.

Tax resident after

183 days a year

Top income tax rate

40%

When you become tax resident

Under Article 60 of Law No 23/053 of 30 November 2023 you have your habitual residence in the DRC if any one of three tests is met: your permanent home (foyer d'habitation permanente) or place of main stay is there; you carry on a salaried or self-employed professional activity there, unless you show it is only incidental (à titre accessoire); or you stay at least 183 days, continuous or not, in any 12-month period. The activity test has no day count, so someone whose main work is done from the DRC can be resident from the start of a stay, even as a visitor. A short trip with no work done there should not make you resident. Residents are taxed on income from all sources whatever their nationality (Article 59). Non-residents are taxed only on Congolese-source income, and a non-resident's salary only when the work is done in the DRC for an employer resident or established there.

Top income tax rate

In Kinshasa, as everywhere in the DRC, the top band of the national IRPP scale is 40% on income above CDF 43,200,000 a year (about US$19,100), with no provincial or municipal income tax found. Total tax can never exceed 30% of taxable income (Law No 23/053, Article 118), so the 40% rate applies only until the average reaches 30%, at about CDF 77,932,800 (about US$34,460); above that, each extra franc is taxed at 30%.