BY NDUMBE BELL GASTON IN DOUALA
A wide spectrum of entrepreneurs of the private sector represented by their management met at an information and training seminar organized by the Douala Regional Delegation of the Chamber of Commerce to acquaint them on the application measures introduced by the new modifications of the 2018 fiscal and tax arrangements in all the sectors of the economic paradigm.
They met at the Chamber’s headquarter precincts last Tuesday February 13 for a workshop themed “specificities of the 2018 Finance Laws and their impact on the workings of Enterprises”.
Consultants taught attendants the principal available laws of 2018, the impact of the reforms affecting the different sectors including their consumers, the new impact on salary issues, to exchange views so as to identify fiscal challenges of enterprises and to equip enterprises and their workers with the laws in force.
Consultants revealed that article 94, among others, states that the number of organs or agencies to collect taxes have been reduced to only four and these agencies in turn, have to hand over taxes collected to the mainstream body, in order to know the real total collected, which was not the case in the past.
Aside from the simplification of the formalities required for tax payment and collection that is ongoing, article 74 has reorganized taxation in different tax territories.
Article 116 states that once a contract is known to be tax free, it means that VAT is not applicable. It was also explained in Article 128 that there is now exoneration of VAT on interest on loans granted by micro-finance institutions.
Other parameters recounted by the Regional Delegate of the Chambers and Parliamentarian in the Commission of Finance and Budget Hon. Albert K. Dooh Collins during an encounter with the press, stated that there were introductions of a handful of modifications, but to name a few, he cited that related to embezzlement which he explained that stringent measures and severe sanctions have been put in place to warn in advance all those who are granted financing to realize their projects but deviate these finances to other interests and neglect the original objectives.
Another modification, Dooh Collins continued, was the tourism sector where a tax has been introduced to boost tourism.
When asked whether the taxes of 2018 are there to promote the business climate, he put it wryly, stating that the country faces many security challenges so, aside from improving the economy, the taxes are very important to sponsor and decimate these challenges.
Alain M. Watat, one of the consultants explained “Stringent measures have been put in place so that revenues should be well-managed. The Director General of Taxes has taken serious measures to ensure that the revenues collected should be very secured and well-regulated. The regime on the reimbursement of VAT has been reorganized”.