The Commission in charge of cleaning up the file of balances to be recovered calls on taxpayers to pay their tax debts for the 2017-2020 period
17 Aug, 2022
Lambert Ifoko, Tax and Customs Adviser to Rigobert Roger Andely, Minister of Finance, Budget and Public Portfolio, urged taxpayers from the Large Enterprises Unit (UGE), Medium Enterprises (ME), Petroleum Taxation (FP) and Small and Very Small Enterprises (PTPE) to pay their tax debts for the period 2017-2020 on Wednesday 17 August 2022 in Pointe-Noire.
About a hundred taxpayers followed the communication centered on the Memoranda N°0298 and 0299/MFBPP-CAB of 02 May 2022 signed by the Minister of Finance, Budget and Public Portfolio. Assisted by Paul Malié, Director of Studies and Planning (DEP) at the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Public Portfolio; the Director of Studies and Forecasting (DEP) at the General Directorate of Taxation and Estates (DGID); Jean François Oboa, Departmental Director of Taxation and Estates of Pointe-Noire and Kouilou (DDIDK), Lambert Ifoko, who is part of the Commission which plays the role of facilitator, spoke for the first time to employers’ organizations (Unicongo, Unoc, Chamber of Commerce, and consulting firms operating in the economic capital. The Commission offers taxpayers measures to exceptional incentives to enable those who are indebted to the State, pay off their debt. These measures are as follows: ‘’Taxpayers who undertake to pay during the year 2022 the total amount of taxes and duties charged to them for the period of 2017-2020, will benefit from an abatement of 30% of the principal amount and 80% of the penalties. Taxpayers who contest the taxes for the period 2017-2020 imposed on them and undertake to pay during the year 2022 the total amount of duties confirmed after the instruction of the claims, will benefit from an abatement of 10% of the principal amount and 60% of the penalties. The examination of the claims will be carried out by a unit specially created to expedite the opinions of the competent authorities, without the obligation to pay the deposit’’.
During discussions with taxpayers, some concerns were raised on the management of guarantees whose requests are pending. On this subject, Lambert Ifoko, ‘’tax authorities must expedite the processing of these cases, and the deposit is not refunded. It will rather be used to pay their taxes. As the commission is represented by each structure, all requests will be examined within a short time, it will be enough to pay the processing fees and to respect its commitment to pay the debt. For example, the outstanding amount to be recovered in the units of large enterprises in Pointe-Noire amounts to nearly CFA F 332 billion’’, he continued. It should be noted that the reception of taxpayers began on Thursday, August 18, 2022 in their respective tax residences, which this initiative of the government, which is in its first experience, aims to clean up the file of outstanding debts and increase the level of non-oil revenues.
