ANGOLA: Budget Law 2016 adopted by National Assembly The Angolan National Assembly adopted the final version of Budget Law 2016 on 11 December 2015, following its approval of the Program of Economic Diversification on 7 December 2015. The Program includes the introduction of the Special Contribution on Banking Transactions (“SCBT”) and the Special Contribution levied on transfers for the payment of technical assistance or management fees. The SCBT is to be levied at a rate of 0 ...
ANGOLA: Budget Law, 2017 details publishedOn 10 February 2017, the provisions of Budget Law, 2017, enacted on 31 December 2016, were published. In terms of the Budget Law, 2017 the 10% withholding tax on technical services and management fees paid to non-residents for the provision of foreign technical assistance or management services (Contribuição Especial sobre as Operações Cambiais de Invisíveis Correntes), which was introduced by Law No ...
BOTSWANA: Amending protocol to treaty with France signedOn 27 July 2017, Botswana and France signed an amending protocol to the Botswana/France Income Tax Treaty, 1999 in Gaborone. CAMEROON: VAT refund procedure available onlineThe Cameroonian Minister of Finance issued a communiqué on 14 June 2017, announcing that the value-added tax (“VAT”) refund procedure has been simplified and is available online as from 3 July 2017 for enterprises registered with the Large Tax Unit ...
ANGOLA: Introduction of transfer pricing unitA transfer pricing unit, set up as an administrative technical structure forming part of the Large Taxpayers Directorate of the General Tax Administration, was launched on 25 September 2017 and will be responsible for monitoring compliance with Angola’s transfer pricing regime introduced by Presidential Decree No.147/13 of 1 October 2013 ...
COMOROS: Treaty with United Arab Emirates enters into forceThe income tax treaty between the Comoros Islands and the United Arab Emirates, recently entered into force. GHANA: VAT withholding agents appointed In an attempt to improve value-added tax (“VAT”) compliance, the Ghana Revenue Authority (“GRA”) announced the appointment of identified VAT withholding agents per industry on 17 May 2018 ...
DJIBOUTI: International Free Trade Zone launchedThe first phase of the Djibouti International Free Trade Zone (“DIFTZ”), expected to be the largest free trade zone in Africa, was launched on 5 July 2018. The DIFTZ will house a variety of manufacturing plants and offer investors various incentives, including tax exemptions ...
AFRICA: African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement developments Botswana and Zambia signed the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (“ACFTA”) on 10 February 2019 at the 32nd summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa, whereas the Ethiopian Council of Ministers approved the ACFTA on 2 February 2019 and the Parliament of Senegal on 23 January 2019 ...
ANGOLA: Introduction of VAT postponed The introduction of value-added tax (“VAT”), scheduled for 1 July 2019, was postponed to October following discussions between the Angolan Government and the Business Technical Group (“GTE”), which advocated implementing VAT only in January 2020 ...
AFRICA: African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement enters into force The Parliament of Zimbabwe and the Ethiopian House of Representatives approved the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (“ACFTA”) on 14 March and 21 March 2019, respectively. The Moroccan Council of Government approved the ACFTA on 21 February 2019 ...
ETHIOPIA: Bills amending customs and VAT proclamations endorsed by Council of Ministers On 26 May 2019, the Council of Ministers endorsed a new bill amending Customs Proclamation No. 859/2014, expected to address practical problems and create a conducive business environment. The Council of Ministers also endorsed a bill amending a number of provisions of Value Added Tax Proclamation No. 285/2002 on 18 May 2019 ...
ANGOLA: Budget Law 2016 published Law No. 28/15 (“Budget Law 2016”), which had been adopted on 31 December 2015, was published on 30 January 2016 and applies with effect from 1 January 2016. The Budget Law 2016 provides for: · the introduction of a Special Contribution on Banking Operations, to be levied at the rate of 0.1% on all financial operations by banking and non-banking financial institutions governed by the Financial Institutions Framework Law (Law 12/15 of 27 June 2015) ...
BOTSWANA: Protocol to treaty between Botswana and Sweden enters into force The amending protocol to the Botswana/Sweden Income Tax Treaty (1992), which was signed on 20 February 2013, entered into force on 1 December 2015. The protocol generally applies from 1 December 2015 for the provisions on exchange of information and from 1 January 2016 for the remaining provisions ...
ANGOLA: Securities Code Regulations enacted The Securities Code Regulation (Regulation No. 6/16) (the "Regulation") was approved by the Council of Administration of the Capital Market Commission and gazetted on 7 June 2016. The Regulation contains the organisation rules and administrative requirements for open companies and other issuers of securities admitted to trading in regulated markets ...
African Union: Import tax introduced At its 27th summit recently held in Rwanda, the African Union (“AU”) decided to implement an import tax of 0.2% to be charged on all imports of goods (excluding basic necessities) in each member state. It is expected that EUR1-billion will be collected through this tax, making the AU financially autonomous. Morocco, the only African country currently not a member of the AU, is in the process of being reintegrated into the AU ...
Africa Tax in Brief Ethiopia: Treaty and amending protocol with the Netherlands enter into force The Ethiopia-Netherlands Income Tax Treaty, 2012 and the exchange of notes, signed on 10 August 2012, entered into force on 1 September 2016, and the amending protocol to the treaty, signed on 18 August 2014, will enter into force on 30 September 2016. The exchange of notes generally applies from 1 September 2016 ...
Traditionally investors have looked towards developed countries for investment opportunities and, more often than not, investment decisions have been based on the economic development and growth of such countries. However, recently investment strategies have shifted towards emerging markets rather than established markets and for this reason an ever increasing number of investors are turning their attention to the African market ...
The Advance Payments Code provides a protection mechanism for local highway authorities to ensure that they are not unexpectedly required to meet the costs of new roads that were not intended to be maintained by the public purse. A local highway authority can serve a notice seeking the payment of, or security for, the estimated cost of construction for the private streets in a development (an APC Notice) ...
Not long after President Trump announced that the U.S. would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum, the Department of Commerce launched an investigation that may lead to additional duties on imported vehicles and automotive parts. Effective, the Department will now examine whether imports of vehicles and auto parts threaten U.S. national security ...
One of the few things that is becoming clearer amidst the Brexit fog is that a ‘no-deal’ is no longer a fanciful possibility. The UK Government, in itsWhite Paper on Immigration Reformpublished at the end of last year, claimed the changes it proposed would lead to the most significant changes to immigration control in 45 years. However, that historic change, scheduled for December 2021, may come sooner than anticipated ...
It is highly documented that the transport sector is heavily male dominated. Indeed, reports suggest that while women account for 47% of the general UK workforce, within the transport sector women only account for 20% of the workforce and only 3% of HGV drivers in the UK. Many employers are aware of the work that needs to be done in this sector in terms of addressing and challenging behaviours, changing mindsets and creating inclusive cultures ...
An effective protection of Intellectual Property Rights. Success is the word that better describes the achievements obtained from the negotiations of CAFTA for the protection of intellectual property rights. Without a doubt, the negotiators that acted on behalf of Nicaragua were exceptional representatives of the needs for a better protection of these rights before evident infractions that have been produced and remain without punishment ...
In the first article of this three-part series we looked at the future of personal transport. In this second piece, we turn to consider mass public transport and how it could play a significant part in the future of commuting. Birmingham is beginning to make substantial changes to its transport infrastructure, but are the changes big enough? The Metro Opened on 30 May 1999, the West Midlands Metro provided a link between Wolverhampton and Birmingham ...
