Before you start

A contract with a DRC-registered employer, who registers you with the DGI and the CNSS and operates the withholding
A CNSS number, obtained by the employer
Clarity on whether you are being paid locally or offshore — it changes which of these taxes apply and to whom

Step-by-step

1
Let the employer withhold the IPR
Annual bands: 3% on the first CDF 1,944,000, 15% from there to CDF 21,600,000, 30% to CDF 43,200,000 and 40% above that. The important part is the cap — however the bands work out, IPR cannot exceed 30% of taxable salary, which puts a firm ceiling on the top rate that the 40% headline suggests otherwise.
Via employerWho: Your employerMonthly, from your first payslip3–40% by band, capped at 30% of taxable salary overall
2
Check the CNSS deduction is 5% and no more
Décret n° 18/041 du 24 novembre 2018 sets the branches precisely: pensions at 10% split 5% employer and 5% worker; family benefits at 6.5% employer-only; occupational risks at 1.5% employer-only. That is 13% employer and 5% you. Only the pension half touches your take-home pay — reading the combined 18% as a deduction overstates your side more than threefold.
Via employerWho: Your employerMonthly5% of remuneration, with the contribution base never below the SMIG
3
Understand the IERE, even though you never pay it
The impôt exceptionnel sur les rémunérations des expatriés is charged at 25% of the gross remuneration of expatriate staff and is explicitly taken in charge by the employer rather than withheld from the employee. Mining companies pay 12.5% during their first ten years of activity. The DGI also requires that an expatriate's declared remuneration not be less than the minimum wage of their country of origin — an anti-underdeclaration rule with real consequences for how packages are structured.
Via employerWho: Your employerMonthly, with the IPR return25% of gross, borne by the employer (12.5% for qualifying mining companies)
4
Leave your foreign income alone — but check your home country's view
The DRC does not tax the foreign-source income of individuals. That is unusually generous and it is the single biggest planning fact here. It does not follow that the income is untaxed: your home country may still tax you on residence or citizenship grounds, and the DRC's treaty network is thin. Get advice on the home-country side rather than the Congolese one.
OnlineWho: You, with an adviserBefore your first full tax yearAdviser fees

Documents you’ll need

Employment contract and your CNSS number
Monthly payslips showing the IPR and CNSS lines separately
The employer's IPR/IERE returns, if you ever need to prove withholding
Any tax-residence certificate from your home country

Things most newcomers don’t know

The 40% top band is not really a 40% top rate.

IPR cannot exceed 30% of taxable salary, whatever the bands produce. Salary calculators that apply the bands without the cap overstate the bill for anyone in the top band, and the difference on a senior package is large enough to change a decision.

Source: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries — DRC individual taxes

IPR and IERE are computed on different bases, deliberately.

The DGI's own note is explicit: IPR is calculated on net remuneration after deductible benefits, IERE on the gross amount. Structuring a package to shrink the IPR base does nothing at all to the employer's IERE bill, which is why employers care about the headline gross in a way that can seem irrational until you know this.

Source: DGI — IPR / IERE

Foreign-source income is genuinely out of scope, which is rarer than it sounds.

Most countries that host expatriates tax residents on worldwide income. The DRC does not tax individuals' foreign-source income at all. For someone with rental or investment income at home this is a materially better position than in Nairobi, Abidjan or Johannesburg — and it means the planning question is entirely about your home country's rules, not the DRC's.

Source: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries — DRC

Your declared salary cannot legally be lower than your home country's minimum wage.

The DGI requires an expatriate's declared remuneration to be at least the SMIG of the country of origin. It exists to stop employers declaring a token local salary and paying the rest offshore — and it means a split contract needs to be designed with this rule in front of you, not discovered against it during an audit.

Source: DGI — impôt professionnel sur les rémunérations

Common mistakes to avoid

Reading the combined 18% CNSS rate as a deduction from your salary when your share is 5%
Budgeting the 40% band without the 30% cap
Assuming an offshore-paid salary is invisible — the minimum-declaration rule and the IERE both exist because it is not
Letting a package be restructured to cut the IPR base without checking what it does to the IERE base
Trusting an online Congolese salary calculator; several apply the bands without the cap

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.