Withholding tax in Tunisia: how to automate it in your ERP

Withholding tax (retenue à la source) is one of the most frequent obligations for a Tunisian company that buys goods or services. It isn't complicated in itself, but it happens at every supplier payment: one omission or wrong rate and the correction is costly. Here is how to organise it, and what an ERP can automate.

This article is a practical guide, not tax advice. Rates and thresholds change with finance laws: check the current scale with your accountant or the tax administration.

The principle

When you pay certain amounts to a supplier, you withhold part of the payment and pay it to the Treasury on the supplier's behalf. You give the supplier a withholding certificate, which lets them offset that amount against their own taxes.

The most common cases in an SME

Purchases of goods, equipment and services: withholding applies to amounts of 1,000 dinars or more, VAT included, at a rate of 1.5%, 1% or 0.5% depending on the beneficiary's tax situation (as restated in particular by Note commune No. 6/2025 of the tax administration).
Fees, commissions, rents and payments to self-employed providers: they follow their own rates, which vary with the type of income and the beneficiary's regime. Check the current scale with your accountant.
If you sell to the State, local authorities or public companies and institutions: these buyers withhold 25% of the VAT on purchases of 1,000 dinars or more, VAT included (article 19 bis of the VAT Code, in force since 1 January 2016 according to the Ministry of Finance). Your receipts will therefore be lower than the invoice total, and your accounting must expect it.

Where errors happen

The threshold is assessed VAT included: calculating on the amount before tax lets payments slip past the withholding.
The rate depends on the supplier: without an up-to-date supplier record (tax regime, tax ID), the wrong rate is applied.
The withholding certificate is forgotten or handed over late, and the supplier asks for it months later.
The month's withholdings are not reconciled with the monthly tax return, then with the annual employer declaration.

What an ERP should do for you

Store each supplier's tax ID and the withholding rate that applies to them.
Calculate the withholding automatically at payment time, on the right base.
Generate the withholding certificate at every payment, ready to print or send.
Post the amount owed to the State to the right account, then prepare the figures for the monthly return.
Keep the history for the annual employer declaration and for a possible tax audit.
On the sales side, record the withholdings applied by your customers so they are offset correctly.

With Nexora ERP

In Nexora ERP, withholding tax is calculated automatically in the Purchasing and Sales modules, with a certificate at every payment. Accounting uses the pre-configured SCE chart of accounts, and the HR & Payroll module handles CNSS, IRPP and the annual employer declaration. To compare our cloud ERP with our desktop software, read Cloud ERP or desktop software.

Withholding tax in Tunisia: how to automate it in your ERP

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The principle

The most common cases in an SME

Where errors happen

What an ERP should do for you

With Nexora ERP

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