The rate
The standard rate in Lesotho 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.
15% standard, from 14% in 2018. Telecommunications were taxed separately at 9% and then 12%, and have been level with the standard rate at 15% since 2020, so the old higher telecoms rate no longer exists. Electricity is 10%, after 5%, 8% and 9%. Exports and a list of basic goods in Schedule IV of the VAT Act are zero-rated.
Who must register
M2,000,000 of taxable turnover in a 12-month period, raised from M850,000 by the Value Added Tax (Registration Threshold of Vendors) (Amendment) Regulations 2025. Apply within 14 days of the end of any 12-month period in which your taxable supplies passed it, or at the start of a 12-month period you expect to pass it. Only taxable supplies count, exempt supplies do not, and all businesses under one legal entity are added together, as are supplies by your associates. Auctioneers and public authorities carrying on an enterprise must register whatever their turnover. Below the threshold you may apply for voluntary registration, which the Commissioner accepts or refuses on the merits; you may also register before making any taxable supply if you can show contracts or procurement proving supplies are coming. Failing to register when you should leaves you liable for VAT on everything you have sold since you became eligible, whether or not you charged it, plus additional tax of double that amount. Note that RSL's FAQ and registration pages still print the old M850,000 figure.
How to register
A sole proprietor, partnership, limited company, or club, association or trust can register, and registration covers every part of the business. A business based outside Lesotho that supplies goods or services inside it should appoint a representative resident in Lesotho for its tax affairs. A business with a place of business in Lesotho that only exports must still register.
RSL's guide VAT 101 says the Commissioner may register a business on his own initiative where there are reasonable grounds to think it should have registered, for example a firm that has won a large one-year construction tender. A business that takes over or merges with another that is already registered files form VAT 5 with RSL.
On registration RSL issues a VAT registration certificate showing the VAT number, the TIN and the effective date. The certificate must be displayed prominently at the business premises where customers and tax officials can see it. Questions can go to RSL on the toll-free line 8002 2009, the WhatsApp line 6221 0090, info@rsl.org.ls or an RSL digital service centre.
Filing and paying
Registered and filed with Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL).
Monthly. The tax period is the calendar month, and the return and payment are both due within 20 days after it ends, so by the 20th. File on eTax at efiling.rsl.org.ls, or complete the paper VAT return with a schedule of purchases and sales attached. Pay at the RSL banking hall in Maseru, at Standard Lesotho Bank, Nedbank Lesotho, FNB or Post Bank, or through e-Payments at epayment.rsl.org.ls. You can ask the Commissioner in writing for more time to file, but that does not move the payment date.
Penalties for getting it wrong
Filing late costs additional tax of 3% of the VAT payable for that period, for each month or part of a month the return is outstanding. Paying late costs a further 3% of the unpaid VAT for each month or part of a month it stays unpaid. Not registering when you were required to costs double the VAT that should have been accounted for.