Before you start

A determination of your Tunisian tax residence
A tax identification number, if you have income beyond employment
The double-taxation treaty between Tunisia and your home country
For a business: clarity on whether it is resident or non-resident, and fully-exporting or not

Step-by-step

1
Establish your residence position
Tunisian tax residence rests on having your habitual abode in Tunisia — a main home here, or presence for a substantial part of the year. Owning or renting a permanent home in Tunis and living in it is generally enough. Get a Tunisian adviser to confirm rather than assuming a day count settles it.
OnlineWho: You
2
Let payroll handle it if you are an ordinary employee
Tunisian employers withhold IRPP at source on the progressive scale and remit it. An employee with no other income usually has no separate filing. Check the payslip shows the withholding alongside CNSS and CNAM.
Via employerWho: Your employer
3
Decide the company's regime at incorporation, not later
Whether a company is resident or non-resident, and whether it is fully-exporting, is fixed by how it is capitalised and what it does — at least 66% non-resident capital funded by imported convertible currency for the non-resident route. It determines both the tax treatment and whether you can hold foreign-currency accounts. Retrofitting is not realistic.
In personWho: You
4
Check whether a Startup Act label applies
A labelled startup benefits from a corporate income tax exemption for a defined period and from a special foreign-currency account usable for cloud, advertising and software licences abroad without prior Central Bank authorisation. It is granted by a labelling committee on the project's merits, not on request.
OnlineWho: You
5
Work out what your home country still taxes
Leaving does not end a home country's taxing rights automatically, and treaty tie-breakers turn on permanent home, centre of vital interests and habitual abode. The classic first-year error is to assume Tunisia has taken over completely, or that it has taken over nothing.
OnlineWho: You
6
File where the rules require it
Rental income, independent professional income, foreign income and capital gains all bring filing obligations that a payslip does not discharge. Tunisian filing deadlines vary by category of income — confirm yours rather than assuming a single annual date.
OnlineWho: YouAnnually

Documents you’ll need

Tax identification number
Payslips and the annual employer statement
Company statutes and status documents
Evidence of foreign income and of foreign tax paid
Carte de séjour

Things most newcomers don’t know

In Tunisia the tax question and the currency question have the same answer, which is the company structure.

The non-resident, fully-exporting regime determines both how a business is taxed and whether it can hold foreign-currency accounts and settle foreign transactions without prior Central Bank authorisation. Advisers who treat these as separate topics give incomplete answers, and structures chosen for tax reasons alone can leave a business unable to pay a foreign supplier without a file. Ask both questions of the same adviser in the same meeting, before incorporation.

Source: loi n° 2016-71; BCT

The Startup Act label buys a foreign-currency account as much as it buys a tax exemption.

The corporate tax exemption is the headline, but for a small technology business the operationally transformative part is the special foreign-currency account that can pay for cloud hosting, digital advertising and software licences abroad without prior Central Bank authorisation. Under ordinary exchange control those routine payments are a recurring administrative burden. Founders evaluate the label on the tax number and miss the part that changes daily life.

Source: Startup Act, loi n° 2018-20

The corporate regime does not change your personal position.

A company being non-resident for exchange-control and tax purposes says nothing about whether you, living in Tunis with a home and a family here, are personally a Tunisian tax resident. Founders conflate the two constantly. Your residence is assessed on your own facts — habitual abode, main home, presence — and your salary or dividends from the company are then treated accordingly.

Source: Tunisian tax code; TIA

The exchange-code reform would change the calculus, and it has not passed.

A 91-article replacement for the 1976 exchange code was tabled in October 2025 and remained before the Assembly's finance committee in mid-2026, with provisions liberalising foreign-currency accounts and foreign investment. Commentary describing it in the present tense has begun to circulate. Building a structure on the assumption it is in force is precisely the error that is expensive to unwind — and equally, deciding against Tunisia without noting that the regime may loosen is a partial view. Track it; do not rely on it.

Source: ARP proceedings; press reporting

Common mistakes to avoid

Choosing a company structure for tax reasons without checking the exchange-control consequences.
Assuming a non-resident company makes you personally non-resident.
Incorporating first and asking about the fully-exporting regime afterwards.
Treating the draft exchange code as current law.
Assuming a single annual filing date covers every category of income.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.