Engaging a contractor in Cameroon runs on a services agreement and an invoice from an individual identified by a NIU taxpayer number, or from a business or company. The contractor pays their own income tax, 33% on net non-salary income, and a foreign client with no Cameroonian presence pays the invoice gross. The legal risk is classification: authorities look at how the relationship works, not at the label, and a full-time contractor on your schedule looks like an employee. This guide covers the contractor’s tax, VAT, reclassification, the contract and the payer’s paperwork. The payment side is on our Cameroon payouts page. It is general information, not legal advice.
Individual, small business or company
Individual. The NIU is the single taxpayer number issued by the DGI, the tax authority, and an individual must be registered and hold one before filing returns electronically (DGI guide, checked 2026-10-29). A contractor invoicing in their own name should be able to give you the number, and you can ask for it on the invoice.
Business or company. A contractor working through a registered business or company invoices from that entity. Ask for the registration details and which entity the bank account belongs to, so the payee name on the transfer matches the invoice.
The contractor’s tax
Income tax. Persons with fiscal domicile in Cameroon are in principle taxed on worldwide income. Net income from other activities, which covers a self-employed contractor, is taxed at 33%; the salary scale runs from 11% to 38.5% (PwC, reviewed 2026-08-14, checked 2026-10-29). The sources we found do not set out how a small contractor’s regime and thresholds apply in 2026, so ask the contractor which regime they are in.
VAT. The total rate is 19.25%, invoiced only by persons whose turnover is XAF 50 million or more under the actual-earnings regime; exports are zero-rated (PwC, reviewed 2026-08-14, checked 2026-10-29). Agree in the contract whether the fee is quoted with or without VAT.
Withholding. PwC’s withholding table lists a 15% special income tax on remunerations paid abroad for services provided and used in Cameroon (PwC, reviewed 2026-08-14, checked 2026-10-29). That runs from Cameroon outward. We found no rate for a foreign payer paying a resident individual. A client with a Cameroonian subsidiary or branch should get local advice first.
Reclassification risk
Cameroon’s labour contract is consensual: no particular form is generally required, and written form is mandatory for some cases, such as fixed-term contracts over three months that involve relocation, and for foreign nationals (Deloitte, checked 2026-10-29). A fixed-term contract may not exceed two years and is renewable once with the same employer. The label does not decide whether a person is an employee: RemotePass says authorities can treat a relationship as employment regardless of what the agreement says, and lists company-set hours, exclusivity, company tools or workspace and regular fixed monthly payments as red flags (RemotePass, checked 2026-10-29). Rivermate’s guide uses similar criteria: an ongoing part of the team, control over when, where and how the person works, and a single client (Rivermate, checked 2026-10-29). We found no Cameroonian ruling to cite, so treat these as practical guides (contractor misclassification).
If the person is reclassified, social security follows: 11.2% of salary from the employer and 4.2% from the employee, capped at XAF 750,000 a month, plus employer accident cover of 1.75%, 2.5% or 5%; the housing fund takes 1.5% from the employer and 1% from the employee, and the employment fund 1% from the employer (PwC, PwC, reviewed 2026-08-14, checked 2026-10-29). Notice on termination runs from 15 days to 4 months depending on category and seniority (Deloitte, checked 2026-10-29). If the role is a job, hire through an EOR.
What to put in the contract
- A written services agreement scoped to deliverables, with the fee, currency, receiving account and who bears transfer charges. RemotePass suggests drafting it in French, English or both.
- An invoice for every payment, showing the contractor’s NIU and matched to the payment reference.
- IP assignment in writing. We found no Cameroonian default that gives a client a contractor’s code; assign the rights explicitly and ask local counsel about formalities.
- Independence markers: the contractor’s own equipment and schedule, the right to work for other clients, and a fee tied to deliverables or milestones rather than a salary-like monthly amount.
- Whether the fee includes VAT.
Taxes and paperwork
The contractor’s side. Hold a NIU, issue an invoice per payment, register for VAT if required, and file their own return.
The client’s side. Pay gross against the invoice. US payers collect a W-8BEN from an individual and file no 1099: pay for work done in Cameroon is foreign-source income (irs.gov, checked 2026-10-29). Cameroon is not on the IRS list of US income tax treaties (irs.gov, checked 2026-10-29).
How to pay contractors in Cameroon
A SWIFT wire to a Cameroonian bank account is the standard route; payout providers also run local XAF payouts, which Airwallex documents at 2 to 3 business days against 0 to 3 for SWIFT (Airwallex, checked 2026-10-29). The XAF is pegged to the euro at 655.957 (Banque de France, checked 2026-10-29). Rails, costs and platforms are compared on our Cameroon payouts page.
Contractor of Record in Cameroon
A Contractor of Record is the contracting party for the contractor and reduces reclassification risk; it does not remove it. In Cameroon the work still has to look independent, and the COR also collects invoices, keeps contracts consistent across a team and flags engagements that look like dependency. Read the liability clause in the contract rather than the product name. Where the role is a job, with your hours, your tools and core work, hire through an EOR instead. Compare providers in our COR rating.