Tanzania: authorities look for new ways to tax social media networks

30/05/2022 By gifsauce 723 Views

(Ecofin Agency)-while Tanzania is one of the most committed African countries to tax the activity of web giants in its territory, it is one of 37 African markets where Facebook launched its e-commerce platform last month

In Tanzania, authorities are exploring new ways to tax web giants, including social media. This was suggested by Tanzania's Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr Mwigulu Nchemba (photo) in a public statement.

He said the country was exploring new ways to collect taxes from organizations such as Google, Facebook and Twitter. "we are discussing the possibility of taxing those multinational companies that take large sums of money from our citizens but do not pay taxes on those sums. "

It should be recalled that the taxation of web giants is an issue of concern to tax authorities around the world, especially in countries where these companies are not represented. In Africa, countries such as Kenya, Uganda and South Africa are actively working on this.

Tanzanie : les autorités cherchent de nouveaux moyens de faire payer des taxes aux réseaux sociaux

According to Abel Kinyondo, an economist at the University of Dar es Salaam, the taxation of these companies is fair because they generate large revenues through social media, but the collection of this tax could be complicated. For him, the challenge lies in the authorities' ability to tax a company without a physical presence in the country.? "this requires a high level of professionalism, and the Tanzania Revenue Authority's (TRA) intelligence unit must be world class," warned Abel Kinyondo.

"it would be more effective to get in touch with the East African Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) to negotiate how we can start taxing high-tech companies together rather than doing it alone," he said. "it would be more effective to get in touch with the East African Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) to negotiate how we can start taxing high-tech companies together rather than doing it alone," he said.

For other Tanzanian digital experts too, regional action makes sense, all the more so since the country, individually, is not indispensable to the companies that the authorities wish to tax. According to Yahya Faraji, a computer expert, "these companies have nothing to lose if their business is complicated in Tanzania. According to official figures, Tanzania has an estimated 23.1 million Internet users, some of whom use social media. "

According to the report "we are Social" published on 30 January, Africa has 453.2 million Internet users, of whom 217.5 million are active on social networks.

For the time being, the African Union has not taken a decision on the matter.

Servan Ahougnon