IFU or real regime: which tax regime applies to your business in Algeria?

The short answer

You do not pick your tax regime freely. It depends first on your legal form, then on your turnover and your activity. If you set up an SARL, an EURL or an SPA, the matter is settled: real regime. If you trade in your own name (as an individual), you are under the IFU as long as you stay below 8,000,000 DA of turnover and your activity is not excluded. You may also ask for the real regime if it suits you better.

annual turnover ceiling for the IFU

8,000,000 DA

IFU rate for producing and selling goods

5%

IFU rate for other activities

12%

minimum IFU due each year

30,000 DA

Who falls under the IFU?

The IFU (impôt forfaitaire unique, the single flat-rate tax) covers individuals carrying on an industrial, commercial, non-commercial or craft activity whose annual turnover does not exceed 8,000,000 DA. The DGI (tax administration) also places professional civil partnerships below the same threshold under it. For these taxpayers it replaces income tax on the business and VAT: one tax, calculated on turnover.

Excluded activities, even below the threshold

Article 282 ter contains a list of activities that stay under the real regime whatever their turnover. The 2025 Finance Law added, among others, advertising and communication agencies, training and teaching, and general insurance agents and brokers. The list published by the DGI also includes other sectors (clinics, classified restaurants and public works, for example). Check your activity against this list before you fill in your declaration of existence.

How much is the IFU?

The calculation is simple: the year's turnover multiplied by your activity's rate. If the result is below 30,000 DA, you pay 30,000 DA. The examples below are fictitious and include no penalties or other taxes.

Filing and paying the IFU, step by step

1. 1

   Declaration of existence (G n°8)

   When you start, you file the G n°8 with the tax inspection. This is where your regime is set. Since the 2026 Finance Law, some options a new taxpayer states at this point are binding: decide on your regime before you fill in this form.

2. 2

   Forecast return (G n°12) by 30 June

   Each year, you declare the turnover you expect, no later than 30 June, at the tax inspection or the local tax centre (CPI) where you operate.

3. 3

   Payment in one go or in three instalments

   You pay everything when you file the G n°12, or 50% on filing, 25% between 1 and 15 September, then 25% between 1 and 15 December.

4. 4

   Final return (G n°12 bis) by 20 January

   No later than 20 January of the following year, you declare the turnover actually achieved. If it exceeds your forecast, you pay the extra tax at that point.

5. 5

   If you employ staff

   You pay over the income tax withheld from salaries every quarter with the G n°50 ter (by 20 January, 20 April, 20 July and 20 October), and you file the annual salary statement G n°29.

The real regime: what changes in practice

Under the real regime, tax is charged on profit rather than turnover: corporate income tax (IBS) for a company, personal income tax (IRG) for an individual. You charge VAT to your customers and recover the VAT paid on your purchases. In return, the obligations are heavier: a G n°50 return every month, an annual return no later than 30 April (G n°4 for companies, G n°11 and G n°1 for individuals), and full accounts.

How to choose when you have the choice

• Your customers: if you sell mostly to businesses under the real regime, they will often want an invoice showing VAT so they can recover it. Under the IFU, you cannot give them one.
• Your margins: the IFU taxes turnover, even in years when you lose money. The real regime taxes profit. A low-margin business struggles with 12% of turnover.
• Your investment: under the real regime, VAT paid on equipment is recoverable. Under the IFU, it is a cost.
• Your time: the IFU means two returns a year. The real regime means a return every month and proper accounts, often handled by an accountant.
• Your growth: if you are nearing 8,000,000 DA, set up the accounting the real regime will require now.

What the 2026 Finance Law changes, and what it does not

• Online filing: article 111 of the 2026 Finance Law makes online filing on the Jibayatic portal compulsory from 1 January 2026 for taxpayers under the real regime and the simplified regime for non-commercial professions. For the IFU, it remains optional.
• IFU: the law keeps it declarative (you declare your own turnover) and frames certain options chosen by new taxpayers in their declaration of existence.
• Several activities: article 24 of the 2026 Finance Law rewrites article 282 quinquies of the CIDTA, which deals with taxpayers carrying on several activities and the move to the real regime.
• Threshold and rates: in 2026 the DGI shows a 8,000,000 DA threshold, 5% and 12% rates and a 30,000 DA minimum. These amounts were not changed by the 2026 Finance Law.

If you go over 8,000,000 DA

An IFU taxpayer whose turnover exceeds the threshold moves to the real regime, or to the simplified regime depending on the case, under the conditions set by the CIDTA. In practice you will then charge VAT, file a G n°50 every month and keep accounts. Plan ahead: an overrun found on your G n°12 bis cannot be sorted out overnight.