Algerian dropshipping is not the one from the videos — and neither is its taxation
In short: Francophone content treats "which status for dropshipping?" as a micro-versus-company arbitrage. In Algeria the real sequence lies elsewhere. Habitual online selling is a commercial activity: it requires registration in the trade register — e-commerce has its own code, 607.074, classified free — or, for some profiles, the auto-entrepreneur card, whose perimeter most likely excludes product resale. On top sits Law No. 18-05 (OG No. 28 of 16 May 2018): a site hosted in Algeria under a national extension, full identification before payment, an invoice handed over for every sale (article 20), signed delivery receipt. And the decisive tax trap: importing for resale as-is falls under the real regime from the very first dinar (article 282 ter of the CIDTA) — the "AliExpress" model is not only slow, it is fiscally incompatible with flat regimes. This article walks the full sequence, from choosing the model to making your store compliant.
Keywords in this article
1. 1. Is online selling just another business activity?
This is the first confusion to dissolve. Regularly publishing a catalogue, taking orders and collecting payments make you a trader within the meaning of commercial law, with its registration duties — whether you sell from premises, your home or your phone. Only occasional sales between private individuals escape that framework.
The legislator gave electronic commerce its own frame: Law No. 18-05 of 10 May 2018 (OG No. 28 of 16 May 2018) sets its conditions of exercise, and the trade-register nomenclature carries a dedicated code — 607.074, "electronic commerce" — classified as a free activity: no prior authorisation, but registration required, including for an existing shop adding the online channel.
| Situation | Registration duty | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Habitual online sale, goods or services | Trade-register entry under code 607.074 | Law 90-22 · Law 18-05 · CNRC nomenclature |
| Existing merchant adding the online channel | Register amendment adding the activity | CNRC nomenclature |
| Occasional sales between individuals | None | Outside commercial scope |
| Operating without registration | Penalties specific to Law 18-05 — fines, and goods seizure reported by enforcement practice | Sanction chapter of Law 18-05 |
2. 2. Does the auto-entrepreneur card allow selling products online?
A loaded question — professional sources themselves diverge, which is precisely why care is needed. The auto-entrepreneur status (Law No. 22-23) is restricted to a list of activities fixed by regulation; it waives trade-register entry and applies a flat 0.5 % rate on turnover. Digital services — development, design, marketing, content creation — sit on that list without controversy. For resale of physical goods, however, several professional analyses consider it outside the scope: the card would cover services, not trading.
Decision rule. Before building a project on the card, check that your exact activity appears on the regulatory list in force at the National Auto-Entrepreneur Agency. An online-trading project built on an optimistic reading of that list ends up, at the first audit or the first banking need, without a valid status — and with an urgent regime correction to perform.
For everything else — exceeding thresholds, banking credibility, partners — a company or a registered sole trader remains the ordinary route. Our guide Setting up a SARL in Algeria details the full path.
3. 3. You import what you resell? Your tax regime just changed
Here is the point almost no mass-market content addresses — and the one that separates every business model sold online. Article 282 ter of the CIDTA excludes importation for resale as-is from the flat-tax regime: such activity falls under the real regime from the very first dinar of turnover. Full accounting, VAT, tax return — regardless of amounts earned.
| Model | Mechanics | Tax regime |
|---|---|---|
| International "dropshipping", AliExpress style | You import (or have imported) and resell as-is | Real regime from the first dinar — art. 282 ter |
| Local sourcing | An Algerian wholesaler stocks; you sell, they ship | Eligibility for flat regimes to be studied per declared activity |
| Own-name micro-stock imports | You import small quantities and resell | Real regime likewise — size does not change the rule |
| Pure digital services | Service provision without goods trading | Outside the exclusion's scope; flat-regime thresholds apply |
The consequence goes beyond accounting technique: the international model promoted by training programmes stacks long delivery times, high return rates and the administrative burden of the real regime — whereas local sourcing, already dominant in Algerian market practice, avoids both drawbacks and leaves the reduced-regime question open. Our article How much to invoice to net 100,000 DZD? quantifies the gap between regimes.
Key takeaway. It is not the sales channel (online) that decides the regime but the nature of the operation (import-resell as-is). Two sellers on the same platform can live in two different fiscal worlds.
Your online project deserves framing before launch
Status selection per business model, applicable tax-regime verification and the Law 18-05 obligations calendar.
Frame my online project4. 4. What must a legal online store actually display and do?
Law No. 18-05 frames the activity itself, independently of the tax regime. Its operational obligations bind every seller, from large accounts to solo traders:
| Obligation | Content | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting and domain | Site published from hosting located in Algeria, under a national domain extension (.dz / .com.dz); domain filed with the CNRC | Law 18-05, conditions-of-exercise chapter (arts. 8-9) |
| Identification before payment | Tax identification number, physical address, electronic contact details and trade-register number accessible to the e-consumer before the transaction | Pre-contractual mentions of Law 18-05 |
| Invoice per sale | "Every sale of a product or provision of a service by means of electronic communications gives rise, on the part of the e-supplier, to the establishment of an invoice, handed to the e-consumer" | Art. 20, literal text |
| Delivery receipt | E-consumer's signature upon effective delivery, mandatory copy handed over — exactly what cash-on-delivery practice does naturally, provided it is documented | Art. 17 |
| Payment | Payments through authorised means; where electronic, via platforms operated by approved banks and Algérie Poste, connection secured by certification | Payment provisions of Law 18-05 |
| Withdrawal and returns | E-consumer's withdrawal right with exceptions (customised, perishable products…); refund within fifteen days of receiving the returned product | Law 18-05 — return and refund provisions |
| Banned products | Gambling, alcohol and tobacco, pharmaceuticals, counterfeits, goods requiring an authentic deed… | Arts. 3 and 5 |
Two practical observations. First, article 20 turns invoicing into a per-transaction duty: a seller collecting hundreds of orders without issuing a single invoice accumulates the 2018-law offence and, above all, the raw material of a reassessment — undeclared turnover proven by public advertising screenshots and bank flows alone. Second, the signed delivery receipt required by article 17 gives cash-on-delivery a documentary role most sellers ignore: kept properly, that paper is your proof of delivery; neglected, it becomes the missing piece in a dispute as much as in an audit. Our article Tax audits: deadlines, rights and preparation shows how such documents get used.
5. 5. Cash on delivery, returns and customer data: after the sale
Cash on delivery dominates the Algerian market — and is not banned. But three post-sale matters call for method.
Returns. Every refused or sent-back parcel raises the same accounting question: what remains of turnover? An order cancelled before delivery never was one; a product returned under withdrawal triggers a refund within fifteen days of its reception. Sellers who declare gross orders taken without documenting any return build themselves the inconsistency an auditor will flag by reconciling advertisements, signed deliveries and bank flows.
Customer data. The law limits collection to data necessary for the transaction, requires the e-consumer's consent and system security; it rests on Law No. 18-07 on personal-data protection, whose full compliance our guide Personal data protection in business covers.
The channel's costs. Platform fees, advertising, lost returns, commissions: these real expenses only deduct correctly with up-to-date ceilings applied. Our article Deductible expenses: the real ceilings avoids the two symmetric errors — deducting what is capped, adding back what stays deductible.
FAQ — Frequently asked questions
Sources and references
- Loi n° 18-05 du 24 Chaâbane 1439 correspondant au 10 mai 2018 relative au commerce électronique — JO n° 28 du 16 mai 2018 : chapitre des conditions d'exercice (arts. 8-9), art. 17 (accusé de réception), art. 19 (copie du contrat), art. 20 (facture pour toute vente), dispositions retour et remboursement sous quinze jours, arts. 3 et 5 (produits interdits) — Journal officiel de la République algérienne n° 28 du 16 mai 2018 · Verified on 22/08/2026
- Ministère du Commerce — page réglementation dédiée à la loi n° 18-05 et portail du CNRC (nomenclature des activités, code 607.074 « commerce électronique », activité libre) — Ministère du Commerce / CNRC · Verified on 22/08/2026
- Code des impôts directs et taxes assimilées (CIDTA), édition 2026 — art. 282 ter : exclusion de l'importation pour la revente en l'état du régime de l'impôt forfaitaire unique — Direction générale des impôts · Verified on 06/08/2026
- Direction générale des impôts — régime de l'impôt forfaitaire unique (IFU) : seuils de 5.000.000 DA et 8.000.000 DA, taux de 0,5 %, 5 % et 12 % — Direction générale des impôts (DGI) · Verified on 03/08/2026
- Loi n° 22-23 du 18 décembre 2022 portant statut de l'auto-entrepreneur — art. 2 et 3 (liste d'activités fixée par voie réglementaire), art. 9 (dispense d'immatriculation), art. 13 (inscription obligatoire après dépassement durant trois années consécutives) — Journal officiel de la République algérienne n° 85 du 19 décembre 2022 · Verified on 03/08/2026
- Loi n° 90-22 du 18 août 1990 relative au registre du commerce, modifiée et complétée — obligation d'immatriculation des personnes exerçant une activité commerciale — Journal officiel de la République algérienne · Verified on 22/08/2026
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