Import tax in Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire: how the numbers are built

West Africa's two markets are usually discussed together, but they do not compute tax the same way. Senegal's customs publishes a cumulative rate table; Côte d'Ivoire publishes line items only. What they share is the order: fix the value first, then stack the rates.

Fix the value first, then the rate

Senegal works from the duty-paid value: vehicle, freight and other charges, CIF. New cars take the higher of the invoice and the export catalogue price. Used cars take the higher of the invoice and the Argus quote, with 20% deducted where Argus is higher. Cars too recent for Argus are valued off the new price with a deduction: 5% for one put on the market a month before clearance, 15% at two months, 20% at three, then 1% a month, capped at 75%.

Côte d'Ivoire works from the RFCV, the final classification and valuation report issued before declaration, not the invoice. All charges are ad valorem, and the TVA base is CIF plus duty plus the various levies, so it cascades.

In both markets you can start with the on-site import duty calculator (/en/duty-calculator): enter price, freight and engine size to get a range, then have the broker check it against the tariff in force. The calculator gives an order of magnitude, not a final assessment.

Senegal: one cumulative table, six stages

The cumulative rate multiplies the value directly: 48.563% and 47.135% already cover all six stages, so do not stack anything on top. Conversely, with line items only you must add them in order, because TVA applies to DD and RS and not to PCS or PCC. PCS itself is quoted two ways: the customs table says 1%, a tax-firm summary says 0.8%. This article follows the customs table and writes about 1%; the difference moves the cumulative rate by less than half a point.

Côte d'Ivoire: no cumulative rate, only line items

Battery-electric needs its own note: 8703.80.19 is new and 8703.80.20 is used, and both lines carry DD 20 plus TVA 18, with no preferential bracket. In West Africa, the idea that electric vehicles carry no duty is often repeated as a rule of thumb; the Ivorian tariff does not support it. A 5% duty bracket does exist, but only for 8703.x1.11, new vehicles for the local assembly industry, which a retail vehicle cannot use. Used and new pay the same rates, and the difference sits in valuation: SYDAM Auto values the car in advance and customs taxes the system value. The age limit, under decree 2017-792, is 5 years from first registration, subject to the notice in force.

The minimum freight is a valuation parameter, not a shipping quote

Senegalese customs sets a floor for freight: 833 USD for a five-seat passenger car shipped from Asia and 1083 USD for a seven-seater, with the higher of the invoice freight and that figure applied. It is a valuation parameter against under-declared freight, not a rate quoted by a carrier. Real freight is separate; keep the two apart in a cost sheet.

Four steps before booking

Five common mistakes

• ✓Multiplying the cumulative rate by the invoice — Senegal values off Argus or the catalogue first
• ✓Applying TVA to every charge — it applies to DD and RS only
• ✓Assuming an EV discount in Côte d'Ivoire — new and used both pay 20% plus 18%
• ✓Treating the 5% bracket as the retail rate — it is limited to 8703.x1.11 for local assembly
• ✓Quoting 833 USD as freight — that is the customs minimum freight parameter