Haiti: turnover tax (TCA), deductions and monthly returns

Scope and effective date

The replacement Tax Code enters into force on 1 October 2026, with implementation arrangements to be set by ministerial decisions. This Guide describes the enacted Taxe sur le Chiffre d'Affaires (TCA) provisions. It does not apply them retrospectively to earlier transactions or establish that all implementation instruments have been retrieved. Independent source review and accountant attestation are pending. 2026 Code, articles 540

Articles 174–179 cover imports and taxable supplies by independently operating economic persons. Goods include tangible property, including immovables; services include other transactions. Self-supplies are assimilated to supplies. Goods delivered in Haiti and services, rights or rented objects used or exploited in Haiti fall within the territorial rule. Employee remuneration and normal company-management remuneration are excluded from independent activity under article 179. Do not decide service location solely from the customer's billing address. 2026 Code, articles 174–179

Article 181 supplies transaction-specific exemptions, including goods exports and services directly linked to those exports, unprocessed agricultural/livestock/fishing products, specified regulated medical care and bare residential letting. These examples are not the complete list. A foreign customer does not by itself establish an exempt export service. Check the precise item and its conditions before excluding output tax. Public-authority operations have their separate article 180 test, including the competition-distortion exception. 2026 Code, articles 180–181

Small-business franchise

Article 193 establishes the franchise for a person with turnover below HTG 10,000,000. At exactly HTG 10,000,000 the literal below-threshold test is not met. A person covered by the franchise cannot deduct TCA on imports or purchases and must not show TCA on invoices. Invoices for supplies to taxable persons retain the other required particulars and state “TCA non applicable–article 193 du CGI”. If such a person wrongly invoices TCA, they owe it solely because they invoiced it and the customer cannot deduct it. 2026 Code, articles 193

Unresolved implementation: article 193 does not itself specify the turnover reference period, annualisation, aggregation, threshold-crossing date or optional election. Do not invent a preceding-year, rolling-year or immediate-registration rule. Confirm the applicable administration instructions before placing a business in or out of the franchise. Nor does this provision establish an exemption from TCA charged on imports or all administrative filing duties. 2026 Code, articles 193

Rate, base and timing

The rate is 10% under article 186. For ordinary supplies the base is consideration received or receivable, including payment from third parties. Other taxes/duties, supplier-charged ancillary costs and price supplements enter the base. Noncash consideration and self-supplies use the specified arm's-length comparison. Import valuation begins with customs value, including services actually included in that value, with the article 184(2) additions. Avoid double-counting freight already in customs value. 2026 Code, articles 184–186

Article 183 assigns the month of tax exigibility as follows:

Transaction	When tax becomes due for reporting purposes
Imported goods	Release for consumption
Domestic goods	Delivery
Services	Partial or full receipt of the price, including advances before performance
Self-supply	Delivery of the goods or provision of the service

Works contractors require express administration authorisation to use receipts instead of delivery for the specified goods rule. Do not extend that exception to all sellers. 2026 Code, articles 182–183

A post-invoice discount can reduce the supplier's collected tax only with a corrective invoice referring to the original; a customer who deducted the original tax must adjust the deduction correspondingly. 2026 Code, articles 185

Input tax is restricted

Article 187 does not grant a general credit for every business purchase. It provides deductions for qualifying producer inputs, service-provider products/materials and the specified goods categories. In particular:

• Resellers: deduction is proportional to tax on the units and quantities actually sold, supported by customs slips and/or local purchase invoices. Unsold stock does not generate the same current deduction.
• Tools and investment goods: expressly excluded from deduction.
• Ancillary services: article 187(6) permits taxed services entering the in-store cost or preservation of products giving deduction rights; it is not a blanket overhead-services credit.
• Lost, stolen or destroyed goods: the associated input TCA is not deductible.
• Mixed production: allocate relevant shared inputs proportionally to the value of taxed or exported products; ordinary exempt resale goods do not permit deduction, with the stated export exception.

Classify the input and its use before computing the credit. 2026 Code, articles 187

Articles 187–188 govern the month and adjustments. Omitted input deductions can be corrected on later returns filed before 31 December of the fiscal year following the omission year. Bad-debt and cancelled-supply adjustments require corrective invoices and the evidence specified in article 187(8), including exhaustion of legal recovery means for an irrecoverable debt or actual customer reimbursement for cancellation. Do not treat an overdue invoice as automatically eligible. 2026 Code, articles 187–188

An admissible excess credit is carried to subsequent returns until exhausted. Article 188(4) expressly bars a cash refund. Article 189 separates recoverable TCA from deductible profit-tax expenses, while its exception brings the nonrecoverable fraction into the purchase price/accounting treatment. This Guide does not determine capitalisation or the timing of an income-tax deduction for a particular asset. 2026 Code, articles 188–189

Invoices, records, return and payment

Article 191 requires a dated, numbered invoice for taxable transactions with other taxable persons. Its particulars include business name, business approval/visa and authorised signature, client name/address, quantity and description, unit and total prices excluding TCA, rate, TCA amount and total including TCA. A person showing TCA on an invoice owes it by that fact; an irregular invoice wrongly deducted engages both seller and purchaser responsibility. Keep records separating taxable operations, exempt operations and deductions under article 192. 2026 Code, articles 191–192

Article 190 requires a signed monthly return between the 1st and 15th of the following month, using the administration's free form and the competent office or assigned taxpayer directorate. Include the collected/deductible-tax calculation and an invoice/customs-slip list detailed by import and supplier. Missing, imprecise or incomplete supporting particulars cause the corresponding deductions to be rejected. 2026 Code, articles 190

Payment of the return balance is due by the due date on the bordereau, while import TCA is collected with customs duties. Do not silently replace that payment rule with a universal “pay by the 15th” instruction. The current operational form and payment-slip process still require confirmation. 2026 Code, articles 190

Computation workflow and examples

1. Establish taxable-person/franchise status and transaction exemption from evidence.
2. Assign goods deliveries, service receipts and imports to the statutory month.
3. Assemble each tax-exclusive base, including required ancillary costs and other taxes, without duplicating amounts.
4. Multiply taxable bases by 10% and document credit-note adjustments.
5. Classify inputs and restrict resellers' deductions to sold quantities. Exclude investment goods, lost goods and nonqualifying exempt uses.
6. Reconcile admissible current deductions and brought-forward credits against output tax. Carry any remaining excess forward; do not book a refund claim from article 188.
7. Attach invoice/customs evidence, file in the statutory window, and settle by the payment-slip deadline.

Reseller example: buy 100 identical units at HTG 1,000 each plus HTG 100 TCA each. Sell 60 units for HTG 1,500 each excluding TCA. Output TCA is HTG 9,000; the sold-quantity deduction is HTG 6,000; the balance is HTG 3,000, assuming no other credits/adjustments. Do not deduct all HTG 10,000 purchase tax in this return. The HTG 4,000 attributable to unsold units remains subject to later sale and deduction conditions. 2026 Code, articles 187

Service advance: a taxable service provider receives HTG 22,000 inclusive of TCA before completing the service. Assuming the whole payment is consideration at 10%, the base is 22,000 / 1.10 = HTG 20,000 and TCA is HTG 2,000 in the receipt month. Do not wait for completion. 2026 Code, articles 182–183 2026 Code, articles 184–186

Import arithmetic: assume an established customs value of HTG 100,000 and HTG 20,000 of other taxes/duties required in the TCA base, with no other additions. TCA is (100,000 + 20,000) × 10% = HTG 12,000. The HTG 20,000 is an illustrative input, not a stated customs tariff rate. Deductibility requires the separate article 187 analysis. 2026 Code, articles 184–186

Credit: HTG 5,000 output less HTG 7,000 admissible deductions produces HTG 2,000 carried forward, not a cash refund. 2026 Code, articles 188–189

Self-checks and boundaries

Check franchise eligibility rather than merely annual sales, the actual use location for services, delivery versus receipt timing, sold-unit reconciliation, excluded equipment, evidence attachments and the distinct payment deadline. Reconcile invoice totals: base + 10% equals gross; extracting TCA from gross uses 10/110, not 10/100.

Registration procedures, threshold measurement and transition instructions remain gaps. Public spectacles and other special regimes, all exemption classifications, foreign-provider collection procedures, excises, customs tariffs and penalties require separate work. This Guide is not a complete indirect-tax pack.

Disclaimer

General research reference, not a filing-ready opinion or professional attestation. Obtain the outstanding implementation evidence before acting for a particular taxpayer.

Contributed by Ryan Duguid.