Corporate Income Tax in Equatorial Guinea

General reference only. This skill is general tax/accounting reference material for AI-assisted workflows. It has not been reviewed for any specific person's facts, documents, elections, deadlines, residency, filing status, or local procedures. Do not rely on it to file, pay, amend, or take a tax position without review by a qualified professional in the relevant jurisdiction.

Who this applies to

Companies with economic activity in Equatorial Guinea in 2026: SA, SAS and SL companies whatever their object, cooperatives, general and limited partnerships, autonomous public companies, certain civil companies, de facto companies and other profit-making legal persons (art 37). Economic interest groups, participation companies and other civil companies can opt in, irrevocably (art 37.3, 37.4). Non-resident companies with a permanent establishment pay on profits attributable to it (art 44.2). The tax year is the calendar year (art 43).

Rates, bands and thresholds

Item	Amount	Tax year	Official URL
Standard rate	25%, fractions under 1,000 XAF ignored (art 75)	2026	https://boe.gob.gq/files/LEY%20TRIBUTARIA.pdf
Cuota Minima Fiscal	1.5% of income for the year; not applied to newly created companies (art 75.3, 75.4)	2026	same
State-funded suppliers	1.5% withheld monthly as minimum tax; agent pays within 15 days (art 80.3, 80.4)	2026	same
New company relief	50% off for the first 5 fiscal years (art 77.4)	2026	same
Cooperatives, crafts, production, livestock, farming, fishing	50% off for up to 5 years (art 77.2)	2026	same
Small producers	Exempt for 5 years (art 77.3)	2026	same
Investment credit	10% in Malabo and Bata, 15% elsewhere, for 500,000,000 XAF or more (art 78)	2026	same
Loss carry-forward	Next year plus 5 further years (art 73)	2026	same
Interest cap, overall	30% of gross operating surplus; excess carried 5 years (art 68.4, 68.5)	2026	same
Interest cap, shareholders and group	BEAC rate plus 3 points, capital fully paid (art 68.2)	2026	same
Cash expenses	Up to 500,000 XAF a month per expense (art 52.e)	2026	same
Hydrocarbon sector withholding	10% non-residents, 3% resident services, 5% mobilisation and demobilisation (art 312)	2026	same

The base

Net profit is all income less deductible costs, under SYSCOHADA (art 42). A cost must relate to the period, be booked and real, serve the business, carry proper invoices and help earn non-exempt income (art 52). Specific limits are in arts 53 to 72. Losses from a year of exemption do not carry forward (art 73.4). Foreign tax is a credit up to the tax due here (art 44.1).

Deadlines and filing

Item	Deadline	Source
Declaracion Estadistica y Fiscal (DEF)	Within 6 months of year end (art 79.1.b)	https://boe.gob.gq/files/LEY%20TRIBUTARIA.pdf
DEF, entity outside the audit test, not an SA	30 April (art 79.5)	same
Tax due	15 days after filing the DEF (art 80.1)	same
Minimum tax	15 July on January to June income; 15 January on July to December income (art 80.2)	same

The DEF carries an independent auditor's report, minutes of general meetings, a statement of pay to partners, an eight-column trial balance, and the ledger and journal (art 79.2). The audit report is not required for an entity under two of three limits: balance sheet 125,000,000 XAF, turnover 250,000,000 XAF, 50 permanent staff. An SA always needs it (art 79.3, 79.4). Bank proof of minimum tax paid goes with the DEF (art 80.5).

To pay minimum tax, use the form (code 3720): base, reductions, rate, tax, surcharges, interest. Pay at a Treasury bank, then lodge the form and proof at the Ministry (https://www.guineaecuatorialpress.com/noticias/presentacion_oficial_de_la_nueva_ley_general_tributaria_de_guinea_ecuatorial). The form on the page for the common sector is headed petroleum and mining; confirm the heading with the tax office.

Penalties and interest

Surcharge 5%, 10% or 15% (art 410); interest 2.5% a month (art 412); under-declaration 10% to 25% (art 411.A). Late annual statements: 50,000 XAF a month under the minimum cash system, 100,000 XAF a month under the normal system (art 411.E). Withholding failures in hydrocarbons have their own scale (art 315).

Cross-border points

Withholding and treaties are in Cross-border. Related-party rules are in Transfer pricing.

Two worked examples that recompute

Established company, profit 40,000,000 XAF, income 500,000,000 XAF. Tax is 10,000,000. Minimum tax paid in the year is 7,500,000 and is credited (art 80.6), so 2,500,000 is due after the DEF.

name: Tax less minimum tax
inputs:
  profit: 40000000
  income: 500000000
steps:
  - cit: profit * 0.25
  - minimum: income * 0.015
  - balance: cit - minimum
expected:
  cit: 10000000
  minimum: 7500000
  balance: 2500000

Decision: invest 500,000,000 XAF in Bata or elsewhere, with annual tax of 8,000,000. The credit is 50,000,000 in Bata and 75,000,000 elsewhere. It is usable for 5 years only (art 78.5), so 40,000,000 is used either way. Location does not change the tax saved. The unused part is not refunded but is a loss over the next 5 years (art 78.6).

name: Investment credit by location
inputs:
  invest: 500000000
  tax: 8000000
steps:
  - used_bata: min(invest * 0.10, tax * 5)
  - used_other: min(invest * 0.15, tax * 5)
expected:
  used_bata: 40000000
  used_other: 40000000

Ask the client first

1. Legal form and activity, including oil, mining or State contracts?
2. Year of creation?
3. Income, profit, balance sheet total and staff?
4. Losses brought forward?
5. Group or foreign shareholders?

Sources

Source	URL	Read on
Ley 1/2024 General Tributaria, Boletin Oficial del Estado scan, read by OCR; arts 37, 42 to 44, 52, 68, 73 to 80, 312, 315, 410 to 412 read	https://boe.gob.gq/files/LEY%20TRIBUTARIA.pdf	2026-11-01
Ministry of Finance, tax return forms page, list read	https://minhacienda-gob.com/formularios-de-declaraciones-fiscales	2026-11-01
Government press office, 13 Jan 2025 presentation, read in full (filing route)	https://www.guineaecuatorialpress.com/noticias/presentacion_oficial_de_la_nueva_ley_general_tributaria_de_guinea_ecuatorial	2026-11-01
Minimum tax form, read	https://minhacienda-gob.com/uploads/2025/10/CUOTA-MIN.FISCAL_SEC.COMUN_.pdf	2026-11-01

The law is a scan with no text layer: figures were read from machine OCR, and the salary scale from the page image. It applies to tax year 2026; the 2026 Budget Law (Ley 9/2025) changes it only where stated.

Not yet confirmed: art 79.3 literally lifts the audit report for entities that do not meet two of the "not over" limits, and this skill reads it in the OHADA sense of not exceeding two; whether art 75.3 makes minimum tax final when it exceeds the tax, since art 80.6 turns the excess into a credit; the current BEAC reference rate; the old note that no provincial or local income taxes exist.