Invoicing in Tunisia: VAT, fiscal stamp and withholding tax explained

A poorly drawn-up invoice means a tax exposure, a delayed payment and sometimes a dispute with the customer. In Tunisia, several rules stack up: VAT at several rates, a stamp duty, a withholding tax and mandatory legal particulars. This article gives the values in force, their sources, and works a complete invoice through to the net amount payable.

The mandatory particulars of an invoice

The baseline is set by Article 18 of the VAT code. A missing particular can lead to the document being rejected, to your customer's VAT deduction being challenged, or to a refusal to pay. A Tunisian invoice must show:

• A number drawn from an unbroken series, with no gaps.
• The date of the transaction and that of the delivery or of the performance of the service.
• The name and address of the seller and of the buyer.
• The tax identification number of both parties. The obligation to state the customer's number is subject to exceptions, notably for certain retailers and providers serving private individuals.
• The precise description of the goods or services, the quantity and the unit price excluding tax.
• The rates and VAT amounts, as well as any discounts granted.
• The stamp duty, on a separate line, and the total including all taxes.

To this is added, where it applies, the withholding tax, which is deducted from the amount paid to the supplier.

VAT: three rates, a breakdown line by line

Value added tax applies to the amount excluding tax. Tunisia uses three rates, unchanged since 1 January 2018, alongside operations that are exempt or outside the scope of the tax.

Rate	Type	Scope (examples)
19%	Standard rate	Most goods and services. Since the 2023 Finance Act, services provided by the liberal professions (lawyers, accountants, architects, consultants) have moved from 13% to 19%.
13%	Intermediate rate	Operations expressly designated by the VAT code: hotel services, certain catering services, passenger transport and tourism-related activities.
7%	Reduced rate	Basic foodstuffs, pharmaceutical products, medical equipment and certain healthcare services.
0%	Exempt / out of scope	Exports, suspensive regimes and the exempt operations listed by the code.

Sources: the VAT code; PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries — Tunisia, Other taxes. Structure in force since 1 January 2018.

The practical principle fits in one sentence: each line carries its own rate, and the invoice totals VAT by rate. The most frequent mistake is to apply a single rate to the whole document when the items fall under different rates:

Line	Base excl. tax	Rate	VAT
Basic foodstuff	500.000 DT	7%	35.000 DT
Consulting service	1,000.000 DT	19%	190.000 DT
Total	1,500.000 DT	—	225.000 DT

Stamp duty: a fixed amount, per invoice

Stamp duty (commonly called the “fiscal stamp”) is a fixed duty owed on every invoice. Unlike VAT, it does not depend on the amount invoiced: it is a flat sum added to the total and it must appear separately on the document.

Its amount is 1.000 dinar per invoice since 1 January 2023, the date on which it was raised by the 2023 Finance Act.

The 2026 Finance Act (Act No. 2025-17 of 12 December 2025) introduced a scale specific to large retail outlets and department stores, applicable since 1 January 2026:

Issuer	Invoice amount	Stamp duty
General case (all companies)	Whatever the amount	1.000 DT
Large retail outlets and department stores	Below 50 DT	1.000 DT
Large retail outlets and department stores	Between 50 and 100 DT	1.500 DT
Large retail outlets and department stores	Above 100 DT	2.000 DT

Sources: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries — Tunisia; COMPTA.tn — Loi de finances 2026, mesures fiscales.

In other words: if you are an SME in services, trading or industry, your invoice is still stamped at 1.000 DT — the progressive scale only targets large-scale retail. Beware of a common mistake: the stamp is not part of the VAT base, it is added after the total including tax.

Withholding tax: who deducts what

Withholding tax works the other way round from the other taxes: it is not the supplier who collects it, but the customer who deducts it from the amount owed, then pays it over to the Treasury. It is governed by Article 52 of the IRPP and corporate income tax code. The most common rates for an SME:

Type of operation	Rate	Base and threshold
Fees, commissions, brokerage	10%	Gross amount
The same fees paid to legal entities subject to corporate income tax and keeping compliant accounts	3%	Gross amount
Rent and remuneration for non-commercial activities	10%	Gross amount
Acquisitions of goods, materials, equipment and services	1.5%	Payments of an amount equal to or above 1,000 DT including all taxes. Rate reduced to 1% or 0.5% where the beneficiary falls under a reduced corporate income tax rate.
Remuneration paid to non-residents not established in Tunisia	15%	Unless a more favourable tax treaty applies, on proof of tax residence
Interest and investment income	20%	Gross amount
Dividends	10%	Gross amount
Sale of property by an individual	2.5%	Sale price

Sources: Article 52 of the IRPP and corporate income tax code; PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries — Tunisia, Withholding taxes.

The mechanism, step by step

• The supplier draws up the invoice as usual (excl. tax + VAT + stamp).
• The customer applies the withholding rate and reduces the net amount payable accordingly.
• They issue a withholding certificate, now generated electronically via the Ministry of Finance platform.
• The supplier offsets the amount withheld against their own tax: it is not a cost, it is an advance payment.

For the supplier, everything hinges on obtaining that certificate: without it, the amount deducted is lost.

A full example: an invoice worked through end to end

Take a service of 10,000 DT excluding tax, with a 5% trade discount, invoiced to a resident customer who applies the 1.5% withholding:

Step	Calculation	Amount
Gross amount excl. tax	Quantity × unit price	10,000.000 DT
5% trade discount	10,000.000 × 5%	− 500.000 DT
Net commercial amount excl. tax	VAT base	9,500.000 DT
VAT 19%	9,500.000 × 19%	+ 1,805.000 DT
Total incl. tax	Excl. tax + VAT	11,305.000 DT
Stamp duty	Fixed duty per invoice	+ 1.000 DT
Invoice total	Incl. tax + stamp	11,306.000 DT
Withholding tax 1.5%	11,305.000 × 1.5%	− 169.575 DT
Net payable to the supplier	Invoice total − withholding	11,136.425 DT

An illustrative example built from the rates above. The withholding is calculated here on the amount including all taxes but excluding stamp duty; whether or not the stamp belongs in the base must be confirmed with your accountant — the difference amounts to 0.015 DT in this example.

Three points stand out. The discount is deducted before VAT: it is the net commercial amount that serves as the base. The stamp is added after the total including tax. And the withholding does not reduce the receivable: it remains 11,306.000 DT, of which 169.575 DT is paid to the Treasury by the customer and 11,136.425 DT to the supplier — the invoice is only settled once the certificate has been received.

Invoice, credit note and deposit: the special cases

The credit note

A credit note cancels or reduces an invoice already issued: goods returned, a pricing error, a discount granted after the fact. An invoice is never corrected by amending or deleting it — since the numbering must remain unbroken, the correction goes through a separate document, which takes its own number and references the original invoice. The credit note repeats the same VAT breakdown by rate. How stamp duty is treated on a credit note is for your accountant to decide.

The deposit

A deposit collected before delivery gives rise to a deposit invoice, after which the final invoice deducts the amount already invoiced. The classic trap is to charge VAT twice: the final invoice must show the total amount, then the deposit as a deduction.

Exempt operations and exports

An invoice without VAT is not an invoice without a statement: it must carry the reference to the exemption provision or to the suspensive regime that justifies it. A 0% line with no justification is one of the easiest grounds for a tax adjustment to establish.

The invoicing mistakes that cost dearly

1. Forgetting the stamp duty: 1.000 DT looks trivial, but multiplied by thousands of invoices and reassessed over several financial years, the back-payment becomes significant — with penalties.
2. Discontinuous numbering: a gap in the sequence suggests invoices issued then withdrawn; it is an immediate red flag during an audit.
3. Wrong VAT rate: applying 7% where 19% is required leads to a reassessment of the difference, with a surcharge.
4. Missing tax identification number: the invoice becomes hard to enforce and the customer's VAT deduction may be challenged. Many will refuse to pay.
5. Withholding tax not followed up: failing to claim the certificate means writing off the amount deducted.
6. Confusing the total including tax with the net payable: the customer ledger shows phantom balances and reminders chase sums that will never be paid.

These mistakes have one thing in common: they disappear once invoicing is framed by software, rather than by a spreadsheet where every invoice is a fresh opportunity to get it wrong.

A word on electronic invoicing

Electronic invoicing through the national El Fatoora platform already applies to certain categories of taxpayers. Article 53 of the 2026 Finance Act was intended to extend it to the services sector. Three statuses not to be confused:

• In force: the obligation remains for the categories already covered before 2026.
• Adopted but postponed: in April 2026, the finance committee placed Article 53 among the provisions referred to a later legislative text. The extension to services is therefore not applicable as things stand.
• To be specified: the technical arrangements (format, platform, signature, archiving) depend on implementing regulations still to be published.

The subject is a moving one: we devote a dedicated article to it, mandatory electronic invoicing in Tunisia.

How software guarantees compliance

Software does not replace your accountant, but it eliminates the errors that come from manual entry and oversight. It acts on four points:

• Numbering is assigned by the system, in a continuous series, with no possible gap or duplicate.
• The VAT rate is attached to the item record: a mixed invoice breaks itself down automatically.
• The stamp appears on a dedicated line, and the withholding tax, configured by customer or by type of operation, appears at the foot of the invoice with the net payable calculated.
• The document chain remains continuous: the quote becomes a purchase order, a delivery note, an invoice and then a payment, with no re-keying.

Swifto handles multi-rate VAT, stamp duty, withholding tax and legal numbering natively. Invoicing is linked to stock, to cash flow and to accounting: a single entry feeds the whole chain. To go further, discover what an ERP is or the ERP solution for SMEs.

Frequently asked questions

This article is for information purposes and does not replace personalised tax advice. The rates and amounts in force are set by the finance act; check them with your accountant.