Ethiopia
Ethiopia: 6 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment.
Forming a company
Company types in Ethiopia
The 6 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names Ethiopia. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
Not in our records No provider's country list has been read for Ethiopia.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for Ethiopia: where to register, file and check.
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements Ethiopia belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
- African Continental Free Trade Area
- Free trade area · since 30 May 2019
Covers goods, services.
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means a Member State that has ratified or acceded to this Agreement and for which the Agreement is in force
- COMESA Free Trade Area
- Acceding
Named in the Key Issues report (Vol XII) among the five Member States that, as at December 2022, were 'at different stages of joining' the FTA.
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Burundi and Rwanda joined the FTA on 1st January 2004.
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- 30%Official justice.gov.et as of 2026-10-10 · the rate for the Private Limited Company (Yekefele Hegn Mahber)
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በድርጅት ላይ ተፈፃሚ የሚሆነው የንግድ ሥራ ገቢ የግብር መጣኔ ሰላሳ በመቶ (፴%) ነው፡፡
- Distributions
- Not in our records
- Audit
- Share companies and private limited companies must have financial statements audited by an auditor every fiscal year and submit reports (Proclamation 980/2016 art. 26(8)).Official The registry or ministry page as of 2026-10-10
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company shall cause audit of his financial
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Not in our records
- Annual registry fee
- Not in our records
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in Ethiopia, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- Standard rate
- 15%
Value Added Tax Proclamation No. 1341/2024 (Federal Negarit Gazette No. 61, 21 August 2024), art. 8(2): 15 percent, with zero percent for zero-rated supplies. Read on the Ministry of Justice's law site (justice.gov.et), which lists the Proclamation as in force.
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b) in any other case 15 percent.
- Other rates
- 0% Zero-rated supplies
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a) for a taxable supply that is a Zero-rated supply, Zero percent, or
- Registration threshold
- ETB 2,000,000
total value of taxable supplies, or such other amount as the Ministry's directive sets (art. 12); 12 calendar months
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The registration threshold is 2,000,000 Birr or such other amount as specified in the Directive to be issued by the Ministry.
- A foreign company
- The same threshold applies
Art. 64 applies the art. 12 liability to register to a person carrying on a taxable activity outside Ethiopia with no fixed place of business there, so the threshold applies. It does not require a VAT representative as a rule: the Tax Authority may require security, and may require a VAT representative if the person then fails to comply, so representative_required and registers_from_first_supply stay open.
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the Tax Authority may require a person carrying on a taxable activity outside Ethiopia who is liable to be registered under Article 12 of this Proclamation but who does not have a fixed place of business in Ethiopia to lodge security
- Returns filed
- Monthly
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“Accounting Period” means each calendar month.
- Tax authority
- Ministry of Revenues, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in Ethiopia, tax year tax year 2018 Ethiopian / 2025-26 (fiscal year 8 July to 7 July), as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- 4 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
business income tax of Category A, B and C taxpayers is due within four, two and one months respectively of the end of the fiscal year. A Category A company (turnover above ETB 2 million) files the annual return and pays within four months of the 7 July year end, i.e. by 7 November. The rule records the four-month period. The guide states no weekend shift, so the shift is unstated.
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taxpayers is due to be paid within four, two and one
- Corporate tax, final payment
- 4 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
the business income tax of a Category A taxpayer is due within four months of the end of the fiscal year, i.e. by 7 November for the 7 July year end, after deducting withholding tax paid at source and any advance payments. The rule records the four-month period. The guide states no weekend shift, so the shift is unstated.
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taxpayers is due to be paid within four, two and one
- Corporate tax, instalments
- 6 months after the end of the tax year · twice a year
a Schedule C taxpayer may pay an instalment of business income tax for a tax year on the last day of the month following the end of the sixth month of the year, of one half of the previous year's tax. The rule records the mid-year instalment (about six months into the fiscal year); the note flags that the Income Tax (Amendment) Proclamation No. 1395/2025 was reported to make the advance mandatory and quarterly at 25% of the prior year's tax, due within 30 days after each quarter, but that amendment was not read on an authority page and the guide's instalment rule is what is recorded. The guide states no weekend shift, so the shift is unstated.
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the month following the end of the 6th month of the
- Personal income-tax return
- 4 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
an individual Category A taxpayer files the annual business income tax return and pays within four months of the end of the fiscal year, i.e. by 7 November for the 7 July year end (Category B within two months, Category C within one month). The business income tax of individuals is collected by the regional or city administration, applying the same federal schedule. An employee whose income is only employment income files no return, the tax being a final withholding. The guide states no weekend shift, so the shift is unstated.
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taxpayers is due to be paid within four, two and one
- Personal income tax, final payment
- 4 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
an individual business taxpayer pays the balance of business income tax within four months of the end of the fiscal year (Category A), by 7 November for the 7 July year end, after deducting withholding and advance payments. The rule records the four-month period. The guide states no weekend shift, so the shift is unstated.
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taxpayers is due to be paid within four, two and one
- Personal income tax, instalments
- 6 months after the end of the tax year · twice a year
an individual Schedule C taxpayer may pay an instalment of business income tax for a tax year on the last day of the month following the end of the sixth month of the year, of one half of the previous year's tax; the instalment is credited against the year's liability. The rule records the mid-year instalment (about six months into the fiscal year). The Income Tax (Amendment) Proclamation No. 1395/2025 was reported to make the advance mandatory and quarterly at 25%, due within 30 days after each quarter, but that amendment was not read on an authority page and the guide's rule is recorded. The guide states no weekend shift, so the shift is unstated.
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the month following the end of the 6th month of the
- VAT return
- 1 month after the end of the month · each month
a registered person files the VAT return for a tax period within 30 days after the end of the accounting period — the accounting period is one month for taxpayers with turnover of ETB 70 million or more; taxpayers below that threshold may file quarterly. Net VAT is settled when the return is filed. The rule records one month after the period end. The guide states no weekend shift, so the shift is unstated.
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required to file a vat return for a tax period within 30 days
- Payroll withholding
- Not in our records
mor.gov.et/web/mor/knows/-/asset_publisher/AGGQJONTb4V/content/id/59145 inaccessible when checked
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for Ethiopia yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods Ethiopia exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes Ethiopia’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee, whether or not roasted or decaffeinated; coffee husks and skins; coffee substitutes containing coffee in any proportion HS 0901 | 34.0% | 33.6% | 45.5% | US$1.5 bn |
| Cut flowers and flower buds of a kind suitable for bouquets or for ornamental purposes, fresh, dried, dyed, bleached, impregnated or otherwise prepared HS 0603 | 6.0% | 6.7% | 8.9% | US$284 m |
| Other oil seeds and oleaginous fruits, whether or not broken HS 1207 | 6.8% | 6.2% | 8.4% | US$271 m |
| Dried leguminous vegetables, shelled, whether or not skinned or split HS 0713 | 4.5% | 8.6% | 5.7% | US$183 m |
| Electrical energy HS 2716 | under 0.05% | 1.1% | 2.7% | US$85 m |
| Soya beans, whether or not broken HS 1201 | 0.62% | 4.0% | 2.0% | US$65 m |
| Parts of goods of heading 8801, 8802 or 8806 HS 8807 | 0.79% | 1.7% | 1.9% | US$62 m |
| Turbojets, turbopropellers and other gas turbines HS 8411 | 2.0% | 0.91% | 1.6% | US$53 m |
| Men's or boys' suits, ensembles, jackets, blazers, trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches and shorts (other than swimwear) HS 6203 | 1.8% | 1.5% | 1.5% | US$49 m |
| Babies' garments and clothing accessories, knitted or crocheted HS 6111 | 1.0% | 0.97% | 1.2% | US$39 m |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$3.2 bn. The ten largest headings are shown.