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Overview of VAT in Guinea Supported in Kintsugi

Updated 4 days ago

If you sell software or digital services to customers in Guinea, you may need to register for VAT there, charge it on your consumer sales, and file a return every month. Kintsugi tracks that exposure, calculates the tax, and handles the registration and the filings once Guinea is enabled on your account.

  • Guinea VAT is charged at one national rate of 18%, with no reduced rates and no regional rates

  • A non-resident business selling to consumers in Guinea has no sales threshold to cross, so the first consumer sale creates the obligation

  • A non-resident business selling only to Guinean businesses does not register at all, because those customers account for the VAT themselves

  • Registration for a non-resident runs through a mandatory fiscal representative, which Kintsugi arranges through our filing partner

  • Business sales stay reverse charged even after you register, which is the opposite of how most countries work

  • Returns are monthly, due by the 15th of the following month, in Guinean francs

  • Guinea support currently covers the B2B SaaS and B2C SaaS product categories


What Guinea VAT Is

Guinea applies value added tax, known locally as Taxe sur la Valeur Ajoutée (TVA), to economic activity carried out in the Republic of Guinea. The tax is administered nationally by the Direction Générale des Impôts (DGI), which sits under the Ministère du Budget. Filing and payment run through the DGI's eTax portal.

Two points that catch people out:

  • Guinea uses the Guinean franc (GNF), not the CFA franc. Guinea is a member of ECOWAS but sits outside both CFA franc zones, so a West African rate table quoted in XOF does not apply here.

  • There is no simplified or digital-seller scheme. Countries with comparable digital rules often add a light-touch registration for overseas sellers. Guinea does not. Everyone lands in the same standard regime, and non-residents reach it through a fiscal representative.

Foreign-currency amounts convert at the reference rate published by the Banque Centrale de la République de Guinée (BCRG).


Which Registration Route Applies To You

Guinea runs a single VAT regime, the régime du réel de la TVA. The difference below is about who registers and how, not about which scheme they land in.

Non-resident seller

Business established in Guinea

Who it applies to

Businesses selling into Guinea with no branch, office, staff, or other fixed presence there

Guinea-incorporated companies, and foreign businesses with a permanent establishment in Guinea

Scheme name

Standard VAT registration through a fiscal representative

Standard VAT registration

What triggers it

Your first taxable sale to a consumer in Guinea. There is no sales threshold

Turnover of GNF 1,000,000,000 in the previous calendar year

Consumer sales

You charge 18%

You charge 18%

Business sales

Reverse charged to your customer, before and after you register

You charge 18%

Fiscal representative

Required, and jointly liable for the VAT

Not required

Local bank account

Required to settle the VAT

Required

Filing frequency

Monthly

Monthly

Input VAT recovery

Available, claimed by your fiscal representative on your behalf

Available

How Kintsugi handles it

Kintsugi monitors exposure, calculates the VAT, submits the registration, and files your returns through our filing partner

Kintsugi monitors exposure. Registration and filing for businesses with a physical presence in Guinea are not currently in scope

Most Kintsugi customers selling into Guinea are non-resident sellers.


What Kintsugi Does Automatically vs. What You Do

Kintsugi handles:

  • Monitoring economic, physical, and collected-tax exposure in Guinea

  • Flagging your first taxable consumer sale, since that is what creates the obligation for a non-resident

  • Tracking a Guinea-established business against the GNF 1,000,000,000 threshold

  • Calculating 18% VAT on B2B SaaS and B2C SaaS sales according to your registration status and your customer's status

  • Applying reverse charge treatment to your Guinean business customers, whether or not you hold a Guinea registration

  • Submitting your registration through our filing partner, including the fiscal representative appointment

  • Preparing and filing your monthly VAT returns, including nil returns

  • Converting foreign-currency amounts using the BCRG reference rate

You handle:

  • Providing the registration details and documents Kintsugi requests, translated and legalised where Guinea requires it

  • Arranging the local bank account the authority requires for VAT settlement

  • Confirming which of your customers are businesses, by supplying a valid Guinean NIF where one applies

  • Remitting the VAT payment by the deadline

  • Adding the required reverse charge wording to invoices you issue to Guinean business customers

  • Entering your input VAT in Kintsugi if you want it reflected, because Kintsugi does not calculate input tax credit

  • Keeping your invoices and records for the ten years Guinea requires


Which Integrations Feed Guinea Data

All read-only integrations except Walmart, and all tax-engine integrations except Chargebee, sync transaction data that Kintsugi uses for Guinea exposure and calculation.


How To Get Guinea Enabled

Nexus monitoring for Guinea runs for every organization, so you can see your exposure before you commit to anything. To register, calculate, and file there, your account needs a plan that includes international VAT support and Guinea enabled by our team.

Select Register on the Guinea jurisdiction. If the country is not yet enabled for you, the app shows Talk to Sales and connects you with someone who can turn it on. If your current plan does not include it, you keep full visibility into your Guinea exposure in the meantime.


FAQs

Q: Is there a sales threshold before I have to register in Guinea?

A: Not for a non-resident business. Guinea excludes non-residents from the small-business franchise, so your first taxable sale to a Guinean consumer creates the obligation. A business established in Guinea does have a threshold, GNF 1,000,000,000 of prior-year turnover.

Q: Do I have to register if I only sell to businesses in Guinea?

A: No, whatever the volume. Your Guinean business customer self-assesses the VAT under the reverse charge. See How B2B Reverse Charge Works in Guinea.

Q: If I register, do I start charging VAT on business sales?

A: No, and this is the detail most people get wrong. In Guinea the reverse charge depends on whether you are established there, not on whether you are registered. Registering through a fiscal representative does not make you established, so your business sales stay reverse charged.

Q: Does Guinea require a fiscal representative?

A: Yes, for every non-resident. The representative must be established in Guinea, VAT registered, and tax compliant, and is jointly and severally liable for your VAT. Kintsugi arranges this through our filing partner.

Q: Which currency do I file and pay in?

A: Guinean francs only, for both the return and the payment. Amounts in other currencies convert at the BCRG reference rate.

Q: How often do I file?

A: Monthly, with no other option, and you file even in months with no activity.

Q: Does Guinea use the CFA franc?

A: No. Guinea uses the Guinean franc (GNF) and sits outside both CFA franc zones.

This article is general information about how Kintsugi works, not tax advice for your specific situation.


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