Two obligations came into force on 1 January 2026: e-invoicing was extended to every service provider, and every taxpayer must now issue withholding-tax certificates on the TEJ platform. This guide sums up what that means in practice.
This guide summarises public sources and is not legal advice. Have your accountant confirm your situation.
1. E-invoicing (El Fatoora)
Who is affected?
Until 31 December 2025, e-invoicing was mandatory for:
- large companies (DGE) on transactions with the State and public bodies;
- business-to-business sales of medicines and hydrocarbons.
Since 1 January 2026, article 53 of the 2026 Finance Law extends it to every service provider, including liberal professions issuing fee notes. Note commune 2/2026 sets the scope:
- documents other than invoices (contracts, statements…) are not covered;
- accessory services (transport, installation) are not covered unless declared as a secondary activity;
- a provider whose TTN membership is pending may keep issuing paper invoices in the meantime.
What makes a valid e-invoice?
An e-invoice carries the mandatory VAT Code mentions (art. 18), plus:
- the issuer's electronic signature, with a certificate issued by TunTrust (for example DigiGO);
- registration with Tunisie TradeNet (TTN), in TEIF format;
- the unique reference assigned by TTN.
A paper copy must show the registration reference, signature and seal.
Penalties
According to the summary of note commune 2/2026, the fine is 100 to 500 TND per non-compliant invoice, capped at 50,000 TND per audit.
How to prepare
- Signing certificate: request a DigiGO certificate (or equivalent) in the company's name from TunTrust.
- TTN membership: file your El Fatoora membership with Tunisie TradeNet.
- Software: use software that produces TEIF XML, signs it and sends it. That is what IntelliFact e-invoicing does.
- Clean data: customer tax IDs, VAT rates on items, gap-free invoice numbering.
2. Withholding tax on TEJ
What the text says
The Finance Minister's order of 10 May 2024 requires withholding-tax certificates to be produced on the ministry's electronic platform (TEJ). Roll-out happened in stages:
| Taxpayers | Date |
|---|---|
| Large and medium companies (DGE, DME), accounting and tax professionals | 1 June 2024 |
| Taxpayers already filing online | 1 January 2025 |
| All other taxpayers | 1 January 2026 |
The State, local authorities and public administrative bodies are excluded.
Key deadlines
- The certificate is issued no later than the end of the month following payment.
- After that, a written authorisation from the tax office is needed, and the penalty still applies.
- Spontaneous correction (change or cancellation) is possible until 30 April of the year after payment.
Manual entry or XML file
Certificates can be entered one by one on the platform, or uploaded as an XML file in the "DeclarationsRS" format defined by the ministry's specification. Beyond a handful of suppliers, the file is much faster. IntelliFact's withholding-tax module generates it from your payments.
Thresholds
For purchases of goods and services, withholding applies to any amount paid under an invoice of 1,000 TND incl. VAT or more, even for a partial payment, and to any payment of 1,000 TND incl. VAT or more, even when it settles several small invoices. Rates depend on the supplier's tax regime.
3. What IntelliFact does
- E-invoicing: validated TEIF 1.8.8 XML, DigiGO signature, sending to TTN and retrieving the reference, compliant PDF.
- Withholding tax: profile per supplier, computation at payment, numbered certificates, TEJ XML file.
- Checks: a list of items to fix before filing (supplier without tax ID, late certificate…).
Tax rules are encoded from the texts with effective dates: when a rate changes, the rule is updated without waiting for a new software release.
Sources
- 2026 Finance Law, art. 53, and note commune 2/2026 — FMBZ KPMG Tunisia, Circulaire fiscale, February 2026.
- VAT Code, art. 18; decree 2016-1066.
- Finance Minister's order of 10 May 2024 (JORT no. 60 of 10/05/2024).
- Note commune 4/2014 (withholding tax on purchases).