Cuba exempts non-state wholesale imports destined for state retail from Sales Tax
- Jurisdiction
- 🇨🇺 Cuba
- Tax
- Sales Tax
- Change type
- Update
- Status
- In force
- Impact
- Action required
- Announced
- 4 August 2026
- Effective
- 4 August 2026
- Instrument
- CU-RES-160-2026
- Authority
- Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba
- Systems
- ERP, Tax engine, Invoicing
- Verified
- Fetched from official source · high confidence
Cuban non-state economic actors who import merchandise wholesale — via the Public Procurement Fund or other sources — for state retail commercialisation.
Cuban non-state economic actors selling imported goods wholesale into state retail channels should stop charging Sales Tax on those supplies from 4 August 2026.
ERPTax engineInvoicing
Cuba's Ministry of Finance and Prices issued Resolución 160/2026, dated 1 July 2026 and published in Gaceta Oficial No. 64 Ordinaria on 4 August 2026, exempting non-state economic actors from the Sales Tax on the wholesale commercialisation of imported merchandise acquired through the Public Procurement Fund or other sources where that merchandise is destined for state retail commercialisation. The resolution enters into force on publication.
What changed in detail
Cuba’s Ministerio de Finanzas y Precios issued Resolución 160/2026, dated 1 July 2026 and published in Gaceta Oficial No. 64 Ordinaria on 4 August 2026, exempting non-state economic actors from the Impuesto sobre las Ventas (Sales Tax) on the wholesale commercialisation of imported merchandise acquired through the Public Procurement Fund or other sources, where that merchandise is destined for state retail commercialisation. The resolution took effect on publication.
What it means
The exemption is narrow and directional: it reaches wholesale sales feeding the state retail channel, not retail sales made by non-state actors themselves. Cuba operates an Impuesto sobre las Ventas (Sales Tax), not a VAT — don’t map this onto VAT-style input/output mechanics, since there is no corresponding recovery to model on the buying side.
Proof
PRIMERO: Exonerar del pago del Impuesto sobre las Ventas por la comercialización mayorista de mercancías importadas que se destinan a la comercialización minorista estatal.FIRST: Exempt from payment of the Sales Tax the wholesale commercialisation of imported merchandise destined for state retail commercialisation.
Source snapshot of the official page. Open full size ↗Archived from the official distribution · Resolución 160/2026 MFP · Gaceta Oficial No. 64 Ordinaria, 4 August 2026 (GOC-2026-436-O64) · www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu