Pay and tax · 5 min read
PAYE in Rwanda 2026: tax rates and how to calculate it from your salary
PAYE in Rwanda is 0% on the first RWF 60,000 a month, 10% on the next 40,000, 20% on the next 100,000 and 30% above that. Gross RWF 400,000 pays RWF 84,000.
You work PAYE out on your full gross pay, one band at a time. Your own RSSB contribution doesn't reduce it. Your employer withholds the tax and pays it to Rwanda Revenue Authority, so if you have one job you don't declare anything yourself. Below are the bands, the sum with real numbers, and the three cases where the normal bands don't apply: casual work, a second job and benefits in kind.
PAYE rates in Rwanda for 2026
These are the monthly bands for an employee in a first job. They've applied since November 2023, when the second year table of Law 027/2022 took effect.
- RWF 0 to 60,000 a month: 0%
- RWF 60,001 to 100,000: 10%
- RWF 100,001 to 200,000: 20%
- RWF 200,001 and above: 30%
Over a year, those bands are 720,000, 1,200,000 and 2,400,000. We also checked the 2023 and 2025 changes to the income tax law, and two 2026 gazettes with tax in the title. None of them changes these rates.
How to calculate PAYE, step by step
Each rate applies only to the slice of pay inside its band. Getting into the 30% band doesn't mean 30% on all your pay.
First 60,000 at 0% = 0 Next 40,000 at 10% = 4,000 Next 100,000 at 20% = 20,000 Last 200,000 at 30% = 60,000 PAYE for the month = 84,000
Here's a shortcut for any salary above 200,000: take 30% of gross and subtract 36,000. So 30% of 400,000 is 120,000, less 36,000, which gives 84,000.
PAYE on common salaries
- Gross 60,000: PAYE 0
- Gross 80,000: PAYE 2,000
- Gross 100,000: PAYE 4,000
- Gross 150,000: PAYE 14,000
- Gross 200,000: PAYE 24,000
- Gross 300,000: PAYE 54,000
- Gross 310,000: PAYE 57,000
- Gross 500,000: PAYE 114,000
- Gross 1,000,000: PAYE 264,000
RRA's own examples give the 100,000 and 310,000 figures, and its 2025 handbook gives the 300,000 figure, so you can check our method against them.
Does RSSB come off before PAYE?
No. Article 16 of the income tax law leaves out contributions made by the employer for the employee. It doesn't leave out your own share. RRA's calculator also takes gross pay and applies the bands straight to it. So someone on 400,000 pays 84,000 in PAYE, and the pension, maternity and CBHI lines come off on top. That leaves 289,346.
A private pension is different. The handbook says contributions to a qualified pension fund are exempt up to 10% of your employment income or RWF 1,200,000 a year, whichever is lower.
What counts as taxable pay
PAYE covers everything your employer pays you for the work, in cash or in kind. That's wider than the word salary suggests.
- Taxed: wages, salary, leave pay, sick pay, medical allowance, commissions, bonuses and gratuity.
- Taxed: allowances for cost of living, subsistence, housing, entertainment and travel. The handbook treats a transport allowance as fully taxable.
- Taxed: payments for redundancy, for loss of a job or for the end of a contract.
- Not taxed: expenses paid back wholly for your employer's business.
- Not taxed: what your employer pays to RSSB for you, and a pension from RSSB or a qualified fund.
Casual workers pay a different rate
A casual labourer pays nothing on the first 60,000 a month and 15% on the rest, so 80,000 pays 3,000. The handbook describes a casual labourer as someone doing unskilled work, without machinery that needs special skill, and engaged for not longer than thirty days in a tax period. If you're on a contract month after month, you aren't one.
Two jobs: why you may be owed money
Your second employer must withhold a flat 30%, whatever you earn there. That often means paying too much, and you can claim it back.
The handbook's example is someone earning 120,000 from a first employer and 100,000 from a second. The first withholds 8,000 and the second withholds 30,000, so 38,000 in all. On one job paying 220,000, the tax would be 30,000. That person can file a personal income tax declaration and claim back the 8,000. A refund is possible when it's more than RWF 5,000.
A house or a car from your employer
If your employer gives you somewhere to live, it's added to your taxable pay at 20% of your employment income. A car is added at 10%. In the handbook's example, salary of 35,000 and a transport allowance of 5,000 make 40,000. Housing adds 20% of that, or 8,000, so tax is worked out on 48,000. If your employer pays your rent or buys you a car directly, that's taxed like normal income.
What your employer must do
Your employer declares and pays PAYE within 15 days after the end of the month. A business with turnover under RWF 200,000,000 can ask to do it each quarter. It must also give you a statement showing your name, your income, and the PAYE and RSSB withheld. If those lines never appear on your payslip, ask to see them.
Sources and further reading
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Frequently asked questions
Do I have to declare PAYE myself?
Not on an ordinary job. Your employer withholds, declares and pays it, and the handbook says you don't need to declare or pay any more tax on that income. You'd file your own declaration to claim a refund, for example after a second job.
How much salary is tax free in Rwanda?
The first RWF 60,000 a month, which is RWF 720,000 a year. RSSB and CBHI still come off that pay, so you won't take home all of it.
Are bonuses taxed in Rwanda?
Yes. Bonuses, commissions and gratuity are all employment income. A bonus paid in one month adds to that month's pay, and most of it falls in your highest band.
Is the old 30,000 tax free band still right?
No. You may still see a band of 30,000 on old pages. RRA's current page and the law give 60,000.