Libya Tax Overview

The Libyan tax system at a glance

Libya operates a source-based tax system administered by the Tax Department under the Ministry of Finance. Personal income tax applies only to employment income arising in Libya, while corporate income tax is levied on worldwide profits of resident entities. There is no VAT.

• Standard tax year — Calendar year (1 January to 31 December); a company may use its own year-end with prior Tax Department approval (Income Tax Law No. 7 of 2010)
• Currency — Libyan dinar (LYD) (Income Tax Law No. 7 of 2010)
• Tax authority — Tax Department (Libyan Tax Authority), Ministry of Finance (Income Tax Law No. 7 of 2010)
• Personal income tax basis — Source-based — Libyan and foreign nationals are taxed only on income derived from employment exercised in Libya (Income Tax Law No. 7 of 2010)
• Corporate income tax basis — Worldwide income (income arising both in Libya and abroad) is assessable for resident companies (Income Tax Law No. 7 of 2010)
• Headline personal income tax rate — 5% to 10% (progressive on employment income) percent (Income Tax Law No. 7 of 2010)
• Headline corporate income tax rate — 20% flat percent (Income Tax Law No. 7 of 2010)
• Does Libya have VAT/GST? — No — there is no VAT or general sales tax in Libya. A 5% service fee applies to most imports (Income Tax Law No. 7 of 2010)
• Stamp duty — Main service/supply contracts 1%; subcontracts 0.1%; payments to the Tax Department / net salaries 0.5% percent (Stamp Duty Law)
• Jihad tax — Abolished (was 4% on CIT and 3% on PIT prior to 2011) (Income Tax Law No. 7 of 2010)
• Corporate return filing deadline — Within four months of year-end, or within one month of the audit report, whichever is earlier (Income Tax Law No. 7 of 2010)
• Social Unity (Solidarity) Fund contribution — 1% of monthly gross salary, collected by the Tax Department percent (Income Tax Law No. 7 of 2010)