Continuation of our series devoted to the Guinean economy during the October 18 presidential election. In Guinea, the “eTax” platform has just been launched to dematerialize the payment of taxes and facilitate taxpayer procedures. Main objectives: combating corruption, but also expanding and securing the tax base. Conakry is thus following in the footsteps of many countries on the continent, which have already digitized their tax administration to improve the business climate, but there is still much to do.
Will we soon no longer have to travel to pay taxes in Guinea? Yes, Budget Minister Ismael Dioubaté replies: “It is to allow taxpayers to electronically declare their tax liabilities online without traveling without contact with tax authorities. This helps fight corruption because there is nothing to negotiate. ”
When he took office, Prime Minister Ibrahima Kassory promised Fofana to make the fight against corruption his priority. “A tax officer earns around 230 euros per month excluding bonuses and benefits and does not have a special scheme as in other countries,” emphasizes an economist.
The tax administration is perceived as one of the most corrupt in the country according to an Afrobarometer survey in June 2020. The news is therefore met with relief by Madani Dia, CEO of the private sector consultation platform: “You have both companies that have amounts to pay, which we do not know where they come from. It creates stress and waste of time, and quite frankly knowing that you can file your taxes online without going through anyone else, and by doing so, online entrepreneurs will be whispered with relief. ”
But the challenge is great in an economy dominated by the informal sector, where the literacy rate remains very low, warns Mamoudou Touré, economist and consultant: “We must ensure that there are no intermediaries between this platform and agents, so the costs minimized. “In easy French, people who will offer merchants to declare to them for payment; ‘That’s exactly the fear one may have.’
It then continues to expand and secure the tax base. With a tax burden of between 11.5 and 13.5% depending on the sources, Guinea is lagging behind in the region.
And so to clarify and rationalize the tax system that is considered difficult to understand or even opaque due to its many special circumstances from some observers.
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