Cuba sets a 5% Sales Tax rate for "Mercado del Barrio" retail goods
- Jurisdiction
- 🇨🇺 Cuba
- Tax
- Sales Tax
- Change type
- Rate change
- Status
- In force
- Impact
- Action required
- Announced
- 4 August 2026
- Effective
- 4 August 2026
- Instrument
- CU-RES-161-2026
- Authority
- Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba
- Systems
- POS, ERP, Tax engine, Invoicing
- Verified
- Fetched from official source · high confidence
Retailers and wholesalers of the Anexo Único goods sold through Cuba's "Mercado del Barrio" project.
Apply the 5% Cuban Sales Tax rate to annexed products sold retail through 'Mercado del Barrio' establishments from 4 August 2026, and treat matching wholesale supplies to the project as exempt.
POSERPTax engineInvoicing
Cuba's Ministry of Finance and Prices issued Resolución 161/2026, published in Gaceta Oficial No. 64 Ordinaria on 4 August 2026, granting a reduced Sales Tax rate of 5% for the retail commercialisation of the products listed in its sole annex when sold through establishments linked to the 'Mercado del Barrio' project, and exempting non-state economic actors from Sales Tax on the wholesale commercialisation of those same listed goods when destined for that project. The resolution enters into force on publication.
What changed in detail
Cuba’s Ministerio de Finanzas y Precios issued Resolución 161/2026, published in Gaceta Oficial No. 64 Ordinaria on 4 August 2026, setting a reduced 5% Impuesto sobre las Ventas (Sales Tax) rate for the retail commercialisation of the products listed in its Anexo Único when sold through establishments linked to the “Mercado del Barrio” project. It also exempts non-state economic actors from Sales Tax on the wholesale commercialisation of those same listed goods when destined for the project. The resolution took effect on publication.
What it means
Two concessions sit in one resolution: a cut retail rate (5% rather than the standard rate) and a full wholesale exemption feeding that same retail channel. Both are scoped tightly — to the Anexo Único product list and to “Mercado del Barrio” outlets specifically — and do not extend to the same goods sold through ordinary retail. This is a Sales Tax measure, not a VAT one, so there is no input-tax mechanic to reconcile against the wholesale leg.
Proof
PRIMERO: Otorgar una bonificación, consistente en la aplicación de un tipo impositivo del cinco por ciento (5 %), para el cálculo y pago del Impuesto sobre las Ventas, por la comercialización minorista de los productos que se relacionan en el Anexo Único, que forma parte integrante de la presente Resolución, a través de los establecimientos vinculados al proyecto “Mercado del Barrio”, certificados por la entidad a la cual se subordina.FIRST: Grant a rebate, consisting of the application of a 5% tax rate for the calculation and payment of the Sales Tax, on the retail commercialisation of the products listed in the Sole Annex... through establishments linked to the "Mercado del Barrio" project.
Source snapshot of the official page. Open full size ↗Archived from the official distribution · Resolución 161/2026 MFP · Gaceta Oficial No. 64 Ordinaria, 4 August 2026 (GOC-2026-437-O64) · www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu