Tunisian Government Introduces New Incentives for Community-Based Enterprises
The Tunisian government published Decree No. 3 of 2025 in the Official Journal of the Republic of Tunisia last week, amending Decree No. 15 of 2022 related to community-based companies. This new text provides significant tax and financial benefits to project holders wishing to create this type of solidarity enterprise.
According to tax advisor Slim Manaï, who was a guest on National Radio on Thursday, October 9, 2025, the main measures include:
- A total exemption from taxes and duties for ten years from the creation of the company
- A suspension of VAT for the same period
- Preferential rates on loans
- Priority for leasing state-owned agricultural land
The decree abolishes or modifies several provisions of the initial version, including articles 7, 13, 14, 17, 21, 23, 26, and 52, as well as Chapter VI, replacing them with more flexible rules aimed at encouraging the creation and viability of these local structures.
Manaï welcomed these measures, estimating that they will enable community-based companies to play a driving role in promoting social justice, while recalling that they alone cannot constitute a complete development model. He emphasized the need to articulate them with other forms of enterprises, such as start-ups and cooperatives, to build a solid and sustainable economic fabric.
For his part, MP and member of the Finance Committee at the Assembly of the People's Representatives, Maher Ktari, indicated that reducing the minimum number of required founders will facilitate the creation of these companies, thus lifting one of the main obstacles encountered so far.
