Tuesday April 9, 2024 in Brazzaville, Mr. Jean-Baptiste ONDAYE, Congolese Minister of Economy and Finance, launched the popularization campaign of two instructions for the application of the new tax provisions contained in law n°39-2023 of 29 December 2023, relating to the 2024 finance law. The ceremony took place in the presence of Messrs. Ludovic NGATSE, Minister of the Budget, public accounts and public portfolio, Ludovic ITOUA, Director General of Taxes and Domains, Administration executives tax, representatives of Congolese employers and taxpayers.

The two application instructions, signed by the Director General of Taxes and Lands, on March 18, 2024, bear number 0338, for the first (relating to the context and justification), and number 0339, for the second ( dedicated to Value Added Tax (VAT).

The new tax provisions concern, first of all, the General Tax Code (in particular the Corporate Tax, the Special Corporate Tax; miscellaneous provisions; and registration fees).

Then, these provisions concern non-codified texts. “The appropriation and good understanding, by all stakeholders, both public and private, of the new tax provisions makes it possible to avoid inappropriate interpretations, often sources of unnecessary tax disputes, and to promote tax citizenship. The popularization of these instructions constitutes a major event, a real meeting of give and take between the Tax Administration and all of its partners, who are the representatives of professional and employer organizations; the members of these organizations; taxpayers ; and their respective tax advisors,” declared Mr. Ludovic Itoua.

In his speech delivered on the occasion of the launch of this campaign, the Minister of the Economy and Finance indicated, for his part, that the 2024 finance law has, moreover, created new tax provisions in terms of rights recording.According to him, it also provided solutions to the insoluble question of retrocession of the share of tax revenue intended to support the decentralization policy.

“It is therefore necessary for the various actors in national economic life to have an objective and rational perception of the principles laid down by the 2024 finance law, and a perfect knowledge of the rights and obligations resulting from it, in order to minimize the impact of disputes and litigation over revenues expected by the Public Treasury. This is also one of the fundamental reasons which justify the operation to popularize the new tax provisions, which we are launching today,” explained Mr. Jean-Baptiste ONDAYE, Monetary Authority of Congo.

In this capacity, he instructed the General Directorate of Taxes and Domains “to carry out actions based on professionalism and legality, objectivity and rigor, in order to further improve the quality of the tax service”.

He concluded his remarks by launching this call for the mobilization of tax agents and taxpayers to meet the Government's expectations: “Under the terms of this finance law, the Government is authorized to collect tax revenues of around 750 billion CFA francs.

With regard to this authorization, the tax must be levied in accordance with the principles of necessity and legality.

The principle of necessity of tax requires that all citizens, because of their ability to pay, are called upon to contribute to covering public interest expenses, by paying the right tax, respecting legal tax collection procedures. , rights and taxes.

This implies controlling tax expenditure, in strict compliance with circular note n°1201/MEF-CAB of October 6, 2023, relating to the prohibition of exceptional exemptions and tax advantages contrary to the law.

I take this opportunity to ask the services of the Tax Administration to redouble their efforts and professionalism, to go beyond what is expected of the Tax Administration by the Government, namely: the mobilization of tax revenues of the order of 1000 billion CFA francs at the end of 2024.

The Communication Unit of the Ministry of Economy and Finance

Photo credits: B2B Communication