TAX EXPENDITURES : Cameroon ranked 5th in Africa, 25th in the world
Cameroon ranked 5th in Africa, 25th in the world The Global Tax Expenditure Transparency Index (Gteti), has ranked the tax expenditure rate of countries in which Cameroon is 5th in Africa and 25th in the world. The ranking statistics was made public on October 9, 2023.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (Oecd), “tax expenditures are special measures derogating from the reference tax system (SFR) that cause revenue losses for the State, in order to arouse a particular economic behavior on the part of taxpayers, or to subsidize certain social groups”.
According to this report made public on October 9 by the Council on Economic Policies (CEP), Paul Biya’s country score score a 14.7/20 for the establishment of an institutional framework guaranteeing transparency and accountability, 12.2/20 for data on lost tax revenues and their evaluations, 11.6/20 for the quality of information relating to the reporting methodology, 10/20 for the public availability of tax reports and 8.5/20 for the accuracy of information on target companies.
The Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, says the assessment of tax expenditure and the publication of the related report are becoming institutionalized in Cameroon. In 2021, the tax expenditure report was published as an annex to the 2023 finance law, promulgated at the end of 2022. It must be said that article 7 of Law N°2018/012 of July 11, 2018 on the financial regime of the State and other public entities compels the government to make a detailed presentation of the nature and the budgetary cost of tax exemptions, to constitute an annex to the Finance Law during the adoption of the annual budget.
According to this 7th report, the tax expenditure amounted to 439.6 billion FCFA in 2021, representing 1.7 % of GDP. Compared to the evaluation of the 2020 financial year, this amount is down by 12.7 billion FCFA due to the revision of the methodology.
According to the Gteti, Cameroon is preceded in Africa by Benin (1st in the ranking on the continent and 8th in the world), Niger, Tunisia and Morocco. In the Cemac zone, Cameroon comes tops on Gabon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Congo, and finally Equatorial Guinea.
Sorelle Ninguem
