The network covers Tanzania within the East Africa region. Payslips there are drawn up in TZS, and dealings with a local firm are conducted in Swahili and English.
The business centres where the network is looking for a correspondent as a priority are Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Arusha, Mwanza.
The country lies outside the European Union and outside the European Economic Area: the A1 certificate has no standing there. Whether the employee remains in the scheme of origin then depends on the bilateral social security agreement, if any, concluded with the sending country; where no such agreement exists, dual affiliation must be expected and budgeted into the assignment.
The answer to this question changes everything: it determines to whom you may entrust your payslips locally, and what you must ask for before signing. It has been verified country by country with the local authorities.
In Tanzania, running payroll on behalf of third parties is a regulated activity. It is carried on under the title of Certified Public Accountant in Public Practice — CPA(PP), and a registration in force must be produced to you before any engagement.
L'Accountants and Auditors (Registration) Act (Cap. 286) réserve l'exercice de la comptabilité pour compte de tiers aux personnes inscrites au NBAA, et l'exercice en cabinet au statut de CPA in Public Practice avec enregistrement du cabinet. Les Practising By-Laws de 2017 encadrent cet exercice. La paie externalisée, dès lors qu'elle s'accompagne de tenue de comptes et de déclarations, relève de ce cadre.
Tanzania is a common law jurisdiction with a constitutional feature that shapes any practical approach: the union between the Mainland and Zanzibar leaves separate registration, licensing and, in places, social security authorities in existence. A foreign company therefore needs to know from the outset where the employee will actually work.
Social protection does not rest on a single fund. The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) carries private sector pensions, the Workers Compensation Fund (WCF) covers accidents at work, and the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) addresses health risk. Lawfully employed foreign nationals are affiliated to them.
Salaries are paid in Tanzanian shillings, with exchange control rules governing payment in foreign currency. English is the language of contracts and administrative instruments, while Swahili is the national language of everyday communication.
Accountancy is a reserved activity: the Accountants and Auditors (Registration) Act restricts practice in a firm to Certified Public Accountants in Public Practice registered with the National Board of Accountants and Auditors.
The registration chain is longer here than in most places: registration with BRELA, a business licence to operate, a taxpayer identification number from the Tanzania Revenue Authority, then registration with each of the relevant social funds. Every link has its own authority and its own renewal cycle, and no hiring is possible while one of them is missing.
The law also frames which contract types are admissible according to the nature of the work, which limits the use of fixed-term contracts for unskilled roles. The category is confirmed before drafting, writing being mandatory.
Two separate authorisations are cumulative for foreign staff: the employment authorisation granted by the labour ministry, and the residence permit issued by immigration. They come from different administrations, the class selected governs both, and securing the first is no guarantee of the second.
PAYE governs the deduction of income tax at source, paid over to the Tanzania Revenue Authority, alongside the employer levy funding vocational training. Social contributions, for their part, follow three separate reporting channels, each with its own forms and its own deadlines, so the monthly cycle needs to be mapped before the first payroll run.
Formalised and documented, the dismissal procedure carries strict rules of evidence. Prepare the written record as matters arise, not at the point of separation.
The network asks 9 documents of any firm wishing to represent it in Tanzania. The table gives, for each of them, the exact wording in use locally, the body that issues it and the period during which it remains admissible. These are the terms to use in an application to the local administration.
Of these 9 documents, 8 are required of every applicant and 5 have a limited period of validity, the shortest being 3 months. 1 of these documents exist only in Tanzania and have no equivalent in the common core of the network.
| Local wording | Issuing body | Validity | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Incorporation (Cheti cha Usajili wa Kampuni) ; pour une succursale : Certificate of ComplianceCertificate of Incorporation Y joindre un company search report récent du BRELA et la preuve de dépôt de l'annual return : le certificat d'origine ne dit rien de la situation actuelle de la société. | Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (BRELA) — Online Registration System | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Business Licence (Leseni ya Biashara)Business licence Distincte de l'immatriculation : c'est elle qui autorise l'exploitation. Se renouvelle annuellement et suppose un TIN et un bail enregistré. | Ministry of Industry and Trade / autorité locale (Class A délivrée par le ministère, Class B par la municipalité) | 12 months Required | Official website |
| Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) Certificate ; VAT Registration Certificate (VRN)TIN certificate and VAT registration certificate Le TIN est obligatoire pour toute société ; l'immatriculation TVA ne l'est qu'au-delà du seuil de chiffre d'affaires annuel (200 millions TZS) ou sur option. | Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC)Tax clearance certificate Délivré pour l'exercice fiscal en cours et exigé notamment pour le renouvellement de la business licence : vérifier qu'il porte l'année fiscale courante. | Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) | 12 months Required | Official website |
| NSSF Compliance / Clearance Certificate ; le cas échéant WCF et NHIFSocial security compliance certificate La Tanzanie n'a pas de guichet unique : les cotisations relèvent de trois organismes distincts (NSSF pour la retraite du privé, WCF pour les accidents du travail, NHIF pour la santé). | National Social Security Fund (NSSF), Workers Compensation Fund (WCF), National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) | 3 months Required | Official website |
| Professional Indemnity Insurance policyProfessional indemnity insurance À demander systématiquement. | Assureur agréé par la Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority (TIRA) ; exigence relevant des by-laws du NBAA | 12 months Where applicable | Official website |
| NBAA Registration (CPA / CPA-PP) et Certificate of Registration of the firm — Accountants and Auditors (Registration) Act, Cap. 286NBAA registration and firm certificate of registration L'exercice en public practice suppose le statut de CPA in Public Practice et l'enregistrement du cabinet auprès du NBAA, renouvelé chaque année. Vérifier le nom du cabinet sur le registre publié par le NBAA, pas seulement la carte du dirigeant. | National Board of Accountants and Auditors (NBAA) | 12 months Required | Official website |
| National ID (NIDA) au passport ya mkurugenzi ; Form 14b (particulars of directors)Director's National ID or passport, plus the statutory particulars of directors Le company search report du BRELA liste les administrateurs en poste : c'est la pièce qui confirme le pouvoir, la carte d'identité ne fait que confirmer la personne. | National Identification Authority (NIDA) et BRELA | No expiry Required | Official website |
| Certificate of Registration as Data Collector / Data Processor — Personal Data Protection Act, 2022Data collector / data processor registration certificate Depuis 2024 l'enregistrement auprès de la PDPC est obligatoire pour tout responsable ou sous-traitant de données personnelles, le délai ayant été prorogé début 2025. Un prestataire de paie tanzanien est un data processor : ce certificat est un filtre discriminant. | Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) | No expiry Required | Official website |
The Mainland–Zanzibar duality is the point most often overlooked. The archipelago has its own registration and licensing authorities, and a firm or employer in good standing on the Mainland is not automatically so in Zanzibar. The question arises as soon as a role is located there.
A Certificate of Incorporation may be twenty years old and relate to a dormant company: the founding Tanzanian document proves nothing on its own. It is the recent company search report and annual return that establish that a structure is active and current.
Introduced by the 2022 Act, registration with the Personal Data Protection Commission is now mandatory for data controllers and processors. For a payroll engagement, it is the best available indicator of how mature a counterparty is on the confidentiality of employee data.
La Tanzanie empile les pièces : BRELA pour l'existence, licence commerciale pour l'exploitation, TRA pour le fiscal, puis trois caisses sociales distinctes. Ne pas se contenter du Certificate of Incorporation, qui peut avoir vingt ans : c'est le company search report et l'annual return qui prouvent que la société est active. Nouveauté majeure à ne pas manquer : l'enregistrement auprès de la Personal Data Protection Commission, désormais obligatoire, qui est le meilleur indicateur de la maturité d'un candidat sur la confidentialité des données de paie. Attention enfin : Zanzibar a ses propres autorités d'enregistrement et de licence, distinctes de celles du continent.
The network opens 3 partner slots in Tanzania, not one more. No firm is listed there yet: all 3 slots therefore remain open to applications.
No listed partner in Tanzania has asked to appear in the public directory. The contact details of a firm are passed on to the client only when an assignment is awarded.
Filing an application does not amount to admission: every request is reviewed one by one. There is no minimum turnover requirement, and the partner selected invoices its fees directly.
Submit an application: we review your file, we check the documents required on the ground and we give you an answer, whether it is positive or not.
A Tanzanian candidate firm must produce its National Board of Accountants and Auditors registration, both for the individual, in the capacity of CPA in Public Practice, and for the firm itself, whose registration is separate. We then ask for a recent BRELA company search report rather than the original certificate alone, the current business licence, the TRA Tax Clearance Certificate, NSSF and WCF certificates, and the certificate of registration with the Personal Data Protection Commission. Where a role sits in Zanzibar, we ask for the archipelago's own registration and licence as well.
Describe your requirement. No firm is listed in Tanzania yet: we review the request, then entrust it to a local firm that the network identifies and vets, or to the partner of a neighbouring country covering this territory. Your contact details are passed on to the selected firm alone.
Request a provider in TanzaniaMobility is rarely arranged one country at a time. The neighbouring profiles follow the same outline.
These countries account for most of the requests received: each one has, in addition to its profile, six pages devoted to a single aspect of local payroll.
The information gathered on this page comes from the registers, administrations and bodies listed below, consulted when the reference base was compiled. It is given for guidance and does not replace the advice of a professional established in Tanzania.