On 10 September 2026, the National Council of Employers (CNP-Togo) convened the eleventh session of its public-private dialogue series, inviting the OTR to present the upcoming electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) reform to an audience of over 300 business leaders at its Lomé headquarters. The reform, mandated by the 2025 Finance Law and detailed in Decree No. 2025-042/PR, will require all VAT-registered entities to issue, transmit, and store invoices in a structured electronic format compliant with the Universal Business Language (UBL) 2.1 standard. The OTR’s Director of Tax Policy outlined the phased rollout: large enterprises (annual turnover > 500 million XOF) must comply by 1 January 2027, medium enterprises (100–500 million XOF) by 1 July 2027, and small enterprises (<100 million XOF) by 1 January 2028. The platform will operate on a continuous transaction control (CTC) model, where invoice data is reported to the tax administration in real time via certified service providers. The session included live demonstrations of the taxpayer portal, API integration guidelines, and a Q&A addressing sector-specific concerns such as retail POS integration and cross-border invoicing.
Key Takeaways
- Standardized Invoice Schema: The mandate adopts a national UBL 2.1 profile with mandatory fields for VAT registration number, buyer identification, line-level tax breakdown, and a unique invoice identifier.
- Certified Service Providers: Businesses must integrate with OTR-accredited e-invoicing service providers to transmit invoice data; the OTR published the first list of certified providers effective 1 October 2026.
- Penalty Regime: Non-compliance after applicable deadlines will attract fines of 5% of the transaction value per invoice, capped at 10 million XOF per fiscal year, with escalating sanctions for repeat offenders.
Disclaimer: This article is compiled and summarized by the AI based on publicly available information and is for general information purposes only. It does not constitute any form of formal tax advice, legal opinion, or basis for performance. Please consult a qualified professional tax advisor or legal counsel for tax advice.
Source: Read Official Announcement
