Regulatory updates - Democratic Republic of the Congo

In September 2024, the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI) of the DRC launched the pilot phase of the country’s e-invoicing and fiscalization device programme. The initiative includes the use of the e-UF and e-MCF systems. The e-UF is intended for businesses without software based invoicing capabilities, and e-MCF for those with such capabilities.  

Grace period 

The mandatory phase of the e-invoicing obligation began on December 1, 2025. However, due to operational challenges experienced by taxpayers, the MoF granted a temporary relief, including the suspension of certain non-compliance penalties, to allow businesses time to adapt.  

Following the resolution of most of these operational challenges, the MoF has ended the grace period through Official Notice No. 006 of April 8, 2026, setting May 15, 2026, as the strict compliance date. From that day, VAT deduction will be only allowed if supported by a standardized invoice, and VAT linked to non‑compliant invoices cannot be regularized.   

Transition support 

In recognition of the fact that certain taxpayers continue to face challenges in meeting the mandate’s requirements, the MoF announced a number of supporting measures alongside the end of the grace period, such as:  

• Sector-based derogations- a full list of qualifying sectors will be published  

• Case-by-case enforcement relief measures  

• Derogation for businesses that are still awaiting certification of their invoicing systems, and those operating in sectors for which a derogation request has been submitted. 

The supporting measures are meant to ease the transition for businesses that are not yet fully compliant and to prevent commercial disruptions during the final stages of the transition.

On 5 September 2024, the Congolese Ministry of Finance announced that piloting would begin for their mandatory e-invoicing and fiscalization device initiative. The pilot phase, which commenced on 15 September, will apply to taxpayers chosen by the Congolese Tax Authority fitting specific criteria they have established.

Training courses were undertaken from 2 to 4 September as part of the pilot, targeting both large and medium-sized taxpayers. The objective of the training sessions was to familiarize taxpayers with the following:

• e-UF – Electronic Invoicing Units, fiscalized devices allowing taxpayers that do not have software-based invoicing capabilities to issue invoices and comply with tax requirements.

• e-MCF – Billing Control Modules are intended for companies with e-invoicing capabilities, allowing for further and better integration to issue electronic invoices compliant with tax regulations.

The selection criteria for participants in the pilot is likely to include organizations within the groups classified by the Directorate of Large Enterprises (DGE) and the Tax Centre for Medium-Sized Enterprises (CDI).