The rate
The standard rate in the Gambia is 15%. Some goods and services carry reduced or zero rates and others are exempt. The difference matters: zero-rated sales still let you reclaim the tax on your purchases, exempt sales do not.
Who must register
Registration becomes compulsory once taxable turnover passes the threshold Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) sets, measured over a rolling period. Below it, registration is usually voluntary, which makes sense if your customers are registered businesses that can reclaim what you charge.
How to register
Registration is compulsory once taxable supplies reach D2,000,000 in a tax year. A business with taxable supplies of D1,000,000 or more may register voluntarily; a business below that cannot register or charge VAT. Auctioneers and promoters of public entertainment must register for VAT regardless of turnover.
Register online through the GRA web portal (https://www.gra.gm) and the ITAS portal: you first need a TIN, then you complete the tax-type registration form, upload supporting documents and submit. The system sends an instant e-acknowledgement and then tells you whether the VAT registration is approved, with a certificate to print, or rejected with the reason. Some tax types are registered automatically from a taxpayer's category and turnover.
Once registered you file a VAT return every month, even in a month with no sales, and pay by the 15th of the following month at a GRA Domestic Taxes office or a designated partner bank. A registrant that has been registered for 2 years and whose turnover for the previous 12 months was below D1,000,000 may apply to de-register.
How to register
Register with Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) on the GRA e-registration platform on gra.gm (the ITAS portal) using your TIN. Once registered you receive a VAT registration number or certificate, and from that date you must charge VAT on taxable sales, issue compliant invoices and file returns even when nothing is due.
Charging VAT on an invoice
Show the net amount, the VAT rate, the VAT amount and the gross total, with your registration number in the header. Prices quoted to consumers should include VAT; prices quoted to businesses usually exclude it and say so. The Gambia calculator adds or removes VAT and shows the arithmetic.
Filing and paying
Returns are periodic, most often monthly or quarterly, and report the VAT you charged less the VAT you paid on purchases. The difference is paid to Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) by the return deadline; a repayment is claimed when purchases exceed sales.
Penalties for getting it wrong
Late registration, late returns and late payment each attract penalties and interest with Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA). Charging VAT while unregistered is an offence in most countries. If you missed the threshold, register now and declare the back period.