Libyan Customs Import and Export Taxes
[Import Tariffs]
From August 1, 2005, Libya abolished tariffs on all imported goods except tobacco, but imposed an import service fee of 4% of the value of imported goods. In early 2009, the General People's Committee of the former Libyan government issued Decision No. 26, "Libya's Decision on Import Services", which adjusted the import service fee to 10% and came into effect in late February 2009. In addition, Libya also imposes a 2% production tax and a 25% consumption tax on 81 types of imported goods. The import tax and consumption tax on cigarettes are 2% and 4% respectively. Both production tax and consumption tax are collected by customs, and their functions are still equivalent to tariffs. Libya exempts self-contained equipment for contracted engineering projects from tariffs, but import service fees are not exempted.
[Tax Collection System]
It mainly consists of four parts: tax type setting, tax base and object, tax incentives and tax
penalties.
(1) Tax type setting: The taxes levied by the Libyan Taxation Bureau are mainly income tax and
stamp duty, supplemented by jihad tax (national defense tax), production tax and consumption
tax. Among them, income tax includes corporate tax (i.e. corporate income tax) and personal
income tax. There is no value-added tax, local tax, gift, inheritance tax and insurance premium
tax. The taxes levied by the Libyan Customs include import service fees (quasi-tariffs),
production tax on imported products and consumption tax.
(2) Tax base and objects: including corporate profits, personal income, project contracts,
commodity transactions, etc.
(3) Tax incentives: mainly including foreign investment income tax exemption policy, business
exemption policy in free trade zones, and qualified tax exemption policy between signatories to
the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement.
(4) Tax penalties: penalty clauses for taxpayers who fail to pay taxes on time.