The "first contact" meeting  between the new Director General of taxes and state property/Congo-Brazzaville, Ludovic Itoua, and economic oparetors (local and foreign) took place Tuesday 12 March 2019 in the conference room of the AOGC building in Brazzaville.

The agenda focused on the popularization of the new tax provisions in the Finance Law of the State of Congo N0.40 financial year 2019 (adopted by the Parliament on 28 December 2018) as well as in the new General Tax Code (CGI) under development.  

These new provisions include the tax on subscription and subscription renewal for television channels and the single tax on wages (TUS). It will be noted that, for instance, that the 1^sttax (on television), with a rate of 10 per cent, now increases from 20.000(in 2018) to 21,000 F CFA (in 2019) excluding VAT(Value Added Tax). While the second tax (on wages) will now also be levied by the National Social Security Fund (CNSS).

The Director General of taxes took the opportunity to call the economic operators to a frank collaboration with the tax administration, to respect the fiscal calendar in order to comply with these new provisions. In short, to show fiscal civility so that, together, thanks to the efforts of both parties, each playing it part (i.e. the State and taxpayers), the fiscal forecasts of the State budget are reached in 2019.   

                     Some grievances and suggestions from economic operators 

The prior holding of a fiscal bubdget conference before the adoption of any finance law was one of the complaints expressed by economic operators among which El Hadj Djibril Bopaka, president of UNOC employers' union, Jean-Jacques Samba secretary general of the employers' union UNICONGO; and Doctor Galessamy Ibombot, president of COGEPACO.

“The 2019 Finance Law came to us late! This is not good on the part of the Secretariat- General of the Government, that is, the State. Since we have to read and re-read it before coming to this meeting, to express our views. Worse still, this law was drafted without first involving economic operators. Since it has already been voted, what can we add to it, remove or challenge it? It is too late. We can only endure it! This means trying to save an already dead person. The State should evoid such a procedure in the future”, the interlocutors of the Director General of taxes suggested.

The president of the committee on economy, finance and budget audit at the National Assembly, the MP Maurice Mavoungou, representative of the people invited to this meeting, did not wait : The work of the parliamentary committee for the drafting of the Finance Law 2019 had, in fact, involved certain employers' unions such as “UNICONGO. I am surprise that their representatives in this room do not remember!!!” he exclaimed.

Other grievances: the private sector has denounced the incidental taxation, that is to say the fanciful of excess taxes claimed by certain agents of the public administration, but which escape the control of the Directorate General of taxes!.“Where do all these taxes go?  Why not create a single tax?”they suggested. 

In addition, economic operators noted that “the tax calendar should be flexible. Because no business can pay the tax within the prescribed time frame, when it flounders”. And then, private sector actors did not fail to suggest to the DG of taxes to reflect on the abolition of tax exemptions enjoyed by senior government officials.  Since the objective is to broaden the tax base. In reality, we are the one who born the costs of these exemptions” (…)   

In the end, the discussions between tax authorities and taxpayers had only just begun, and could not be exhausted in a single day of contact-making. “This is why our doors remain open both in the Directorate General of taxes and in its divisional departments. But already, be assured that before the vote on the State budget for the financial year 2020, your complaints will be discussed at the fiscal budget conference which we will prepare together. From today, send us your proposals”, the new DG of taxes concluded.       

                                                                       The Press office of the Ministry of Finance