Between the gross salary stated in the contract, the net pay received by the employee and what the company actually pays out, the gap is significant: the cost to the company can exceed the net salary by more than 20%. RTS, CNSS contributions, VF (flat-rate payroll tax), apprenticeship tax or ONFPP contribution: here are the deductions that apply to every salary in Guinea, how to calculate them and the deadlines not to miss.
Overview
Every salary bears two families of deductions.
Borne by the employee, withheld by the employer from pay:
- the employee CNSS contribution: 5% of gross salary, between a floor of GNF 550,000 and a ceiling of GNF 2,500,000 per month;
- the tax withheld on wages and salaries (RTS, pay-as-you-earn income tax), calculated in bands from 0% to 20%.
Borne by the employer, on top of gross salary:
- the employer CNSS contribution: 18% of gross salary, within the same limits;
- the flat-rate payroll tax (VF): 6% of the total payroll;
- depending on headcount, the 1.5% vocational training contribution (ONFPP), payable by companies with 30 or more employees, or the 2% apprenticeship tax, payable by those with fewer than 30 employees.
CNSS contributions: 23% between a floor and a ceiling
The contribution to the National Social Security Fund amounts to 23% in total: 5% borne by the employee and 18% borne by the employer. It funds family benefits (6%), occupational accidents and diseases (4%), health insurance (6.5%) and retirement, invalidity and death benefits (6.5%).
On what base?
Contributions are due on all remuneration: salary, bonuses, allowances and gratuities, including benefits in kind. Only allowances that reimburse business expenses are excluded. Unlike RTS, housing or transport allowances are therefore included in the CNSS contribution base.
This base applies between a floor of GNF 550,000 and a ceiling of GNF 2,500,000 per month:
- an employee paid GNF 1,800,000 contributes 5% of 1,800,000, i.e. GNF 90,000;
- an employee paid GNF 8,000,000, or GNF 50,000,000, contributes 5% of 2,500,000 only, i.e. GNF 125,000; the employer’s share is then 18% of 2,500,000, i.e. GNF 450,000;
- a salary below GNF 550,000 contributes on the basis of the floor.
Who pays, and when?
The employer alone is liable for all contributions, both the employer’s and the employee’s shares: it withholds the employee’s share from each payroll, and the employee cannot object.
Contributions are paid:
- monthly if the company employs 20 or more employees;
- quarterly, or monthly at its request, if it employs fewer than 20;
- within the first fifteen days following the end of the month or quarter.
Any delay incurs a surcharge of 5% per month or part month of delay.
The tax withheld on wages and salaries (RTS)
Who withholds it?
Every employer established in Guinea makes the withholding each time salary is paid, both for employees domiciled in Guinea and for those domiciled abroad who work in Guinea (Article 61 of the General Tax Code). The withholding is final: the employee has no other tax to pay on that salary (Article 64).
On what base?
Taxable income is calculated starting from gross salary, including bonuses and benefits in kind (Articles 52 and 53), and then deducting:
- the employee CNSS contribution actually withheld, and therefore capped (Article 58);
- exempt sums, in particular flat-rate allowances up to 25% of gross pay (see below), severance and retirement payments, family allowances and reimbursements of actual, documented business expenses (Article 55).
The scale
The withholding applies in bands to monthly taxable income (Article 63):
- from 0 to GNF 1,000,000: 0%;
- from 1,000,001 to GNF 3,000,000: 5%;
- from 3,000,001 to GNF 5,000,000: 8%;
- from 5,000,001 to GNF 10,000,000: 10%;
- from 10,000,001 to GNF 20,000,000: 15%;
- above GNF 20,000,000: 20%.
Each rate applies only to the portion of income within its band: an employee whose taxable income reaches GNF 6,000,000 is not taxed at 10% on the whole amount.
The 25% rule for allowances
Flat-rate allowances such as housing, transport, meal and food allowances, cost-of-living bonuses and chalk allowances are exempt from RTS. However, their total exempt amount may not exceed 25% of gross salary (Article 55).
Example: on a gross salary of GNF 8,000,000, the exemption ceiling is GNF 2,000,000. If the employee receives GNF 2,600,000 in housing and transport allowances, GNF 2,000,000 is exempt and the excess GNF 600,000 is added back to taxable income.
The Code lists these allowances as examples (“such as”). As a precaution, treat as exempt only an allowance that clearly corresponds to one of them and add the other bonuses back to taxable income: this is the safest choice in the event of an inspection.
The flat-rate payroll tax (VF)
The employer pays 6% of the total amount of salaries, allowances and emoluments paid to all staff, including benefits in cash and in kind (Article 201).
The following are exempt from VF (Article 203 ter):
- remuneration paid to people with physical disabilities;
- allowances paid to trainees whose pre-employment placement does not exceed twelve months, up to GNF 1,200,000;
- the wages of apprentices holding an apprenticeship contract that complies with the Labour Code.
Apprenticeship tax or ONFPP contribution?
The employer pays one or the other, depending on its headcount:
- 30 or more employees: a contribution of 1.5% of the payroll towards funding vocational training, of which 0.5% for apprenticeship and 1% for the further training, qualification and retraining of employees (Article 141.2 of the Labour Code). It is paid to the ONFPP every month, by the 15th of the following month at the latest. Companies liable for it are exempt from the apprenticeship tax (Article 206 of the General Tax Code).
- Fewer than 30 employees: apprenticeship tax of 2%, calculated on the same base as the VF (Articles 204, 205 and 210).
The apprenticeship tax does not apply to trainee allowances (pre-employment placement of twelve months or less, up to GNF 1,200,000), apprentices’ wages or the remuneration of people with physical disabilities (Article 206). It is not claimed if its annual amount does not exceed GNF 30,000, and the company is entitled to a reduction of GNF 50,000 per apprentice present, up to half of the tax (Articles 210 and 214).
Trainees: a lighter regime
Allowances paid for a placement of twelve months or less, up to GNF 1,200,000 per month, are exempt from RTS (Article 55), VF (Article 203 ter) and apprenticeship tax (Article 206). Above that amount or that duration, the ordinary rules apply.
Full example: from gross pay to employer cost
Take a manager paid GNF 8,000,000 gross per month, in a company with 30 or more employees. Their salary consists of GNF 6,400,000 basic salary, a GNF 1,000,000 housing allowance and a GNF 600,000 transport allowance.
1. Employee CNSS contribution: 5% × 2,500,000 = GNF 125,000.
2. Exempt allowances: GNF 1,600,000, i.e. 20% of gross pay, below the 25% ceiling (GNF 2,000,000): they are fully exempt.
3. Taxable income: 8,000,000 − 125,000 − 1,600,000 = GNF 6,275,000.
4. RTS:
- band from 0 to GNF 1,000,000: 0;
- band from 1,000,001 to GNF 3,000,000: 2,000,000 × 5% = GNF 100,000;
- band from 3,000,001 to GNF 5,000,000: 2,000,000 × 8% = GNF 160,000;
- band from 5,000,001 to GNF 6,275,000: 1,275,000 × 10% = GNF 127,500;
- total: GNF 387,500.
5. Net salary: 8,000,000 − 125,000 − 387,500 = GNF 7,487,500.
6. Employer charges:
- employer CNSS: 18% × 2,500,000 = GNF 450,000;
- VF: 6% × 8,000,000 = GNF 480,000;
- ONFPP contribution: 1.5% × 8,000,000 = GNF 120,000;
- total: GNF 1,050,000.
7. Total cost to the company: 8,000,000 + 1,050,000 = GNF 9,050,000 per month.
The employee therefore receives GNF 7,487,500 for a cost of GNF 9,050,000: a gap of GNF 1,562,500, or about 17% of the total cost. In a company with fewer than 30 employees, the 2% apprenticeship tax (GNF 160,000) replaces the ONFPP contribution and brings the cost to GNF 9,090,000.
Deadlines to meet
- Every month, by the 10th of the following month at the latest: filing and payment of RTS and VF on the Directorate General of Taxes’ e-Tax online platform, through the single monthly return (Articles 72, 74 and 202 of the General Tax Code; deadline set by the Finance Act). In practice, the tax authority often postpones this deadline on e-Tax, sometimes to the 15th: check the date shown on the platform every month and, if no postponement has been announced, work to the 10th.
- Every month, by the 15th of the following month at the latest: payment of CNSS contributions for companies with 20 or more employees, and of the ONFPP contribution for companies with 30 or more employees.
- Within 15 days after each quarter: CNSS contributions for companies with fewer than 20 employees that pay quarterly.
- In January: submission to the tax authority of the annual statement of salaries paid in the previous year, employee by employee, with the amounts withheld (Article 76).
- By 15 February at the latest: filing and payment of the apprenticeship tax for the previous year (Articles 208 and 210).
The employer records each payment and the amounts withheld in its payroll register, and gives each employee a document evidencing the amount withheld (Article 71).
What the employer risks
On the CNSS side, each month of delay in paying contributions costs a 5% surcharge.
On the tax side, an employer that fails to make the withholding, or calculates it too low, becomes personally liable for the sums not withheld (Article 81). If it has withheld the tax without paying it over on time, it is personally assessed for an equal amount (Article 82). Fines may under no circumstances be recovered from salaries (Article 86).
GHR best practice
- Show basic salary, bonuses and each flat-rate allowance separately on the payslip.
- Check every month that exempt allowances do not exceed 25% of gross pay.
- Apply the CNSS floor (GNF 550,000) and ceiling (GNF 2,500,000) to both the employee’s and the employer’s share, including bonuses and allowances.
- Pay CNSS contributions before the 15th: the late-payment surcharge is 5% per month.
- Calculate RTS band by band, after deducting the CNSS contribution actually withheld.
- Check headcount to know whether the company falls under the ONFPP or the apprenticeship tax.
- Monitor the duration and amount of placements to keep the benefit of the exemptions.
- Put in the calendar the deadlines of the 10th (RTS and VF on e-Tax, unless a postponement is shown on the platform) and the 15th (CNSS and ONFPP) of each month, the annual statement in January and the apprenticeship tax on 15 February.
