The Declaration and Payment of Taxes in Cameroon A Critical Appraisal DBI 4 May 2021 2

THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT
OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A
CRITICAL APPRAISAL
By
Dr. Louis-Marie Kakdeu, Ulrich D’Pola

Kamdem & Dinga Tambi Appollinaris
To cite this report:
Kakdeu, L, M., D’Pola, K.U., & Dinga, T. A., (2021)

“The Declaration and Payment of Taxes in
Cameroon: A Critical Appraisal” Thematic Report
N.4, DBI Project, Nkafu Policy Institute, Denis and
Lenora Foretia Foundation.
THE INSTITUTIONAL BACKGROUND
The Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation was established to catalyze Africa’s
economic transformation by focusing on social entrepreneurship, science and
technology, innovation, public health, and progressive policies that create and
increase economic opportunities for all.
The Nkafu Policy Institute is a Think-Tank at the Denis & Lenora Foretia
Foundation, which focuses on using independent analysis to inform public
debates on social problems. Its mission is to advance public policies that help
all Africans to prosper in free, fair, and democratic economies. The Institute
has distinguished itself as a leading research center in Cameroon, engaged in
promoting open debate that builds consensus towards a democratic future.
Cameroon:
Office Location
Opposite College Jesus-Marie Simbock P.O. Box 13415 – Yaoundé, Cameroon
Phone: +237 222 31 15 84
United States:
8005 Dancing Fox Road Atlanta, Georgia 30032 +1 678 223 3746
For general information, contact us at info@foretiafoundation.org
Copyright © 2021 - The Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation

Photo Credits: The Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD.........................................................................................................................................................................................5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................................................................................................................................7
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYM......................................................................................................................8
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................................................................................9
CHAPTER 1: CAMEROON’S PAST PERFORMANCE ON PAYING TAXES INDICATOR:
AN ANALYSIS........................................................................................................................................................11
Section 1: Analysis of Cameroon’s Ranking in the Paying Taxes Indicator...................................................12

Section 2. What Cameroon can do to Improve its Ranking Regarding the World Bank’s Paying Taxes
Indicator....................................................................................................................................................................................15
CHAPTER 2: TAX REGIMES AND THE GENERAL TAX CODE: ARE THEY FAVORABLE TO
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE COUNTRY?........................................................................................................................17
Section 1. Overview of the Tax Regimes and the General Tax Code in Cameroon...........................................18
Section 2. Examining the Effects of Taxation on Entrepreneurship.................................................................19
CHAPTER 3: TAXES DECLARATION AND PAYMENT PROCEDURES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL

ANALYSIS FROM THE GOVERNANCE PERSPECTIVE...............................................................................................21
Section One: Manual Declaration and Payment Procedure for Taxpayers at Small Tax Units.............22
Section Two: Electronic Procedure for Taxpayers at Medium Size Tax Units, Large Tax Units, and
Specialised Tax Centers......................................................................................................................................................24
Section Three: The Benefits and Problems of Implementing Online Filing and Payment Systems in
Cameroon................................................................................................................................................................................25
CHAPTER 4: DOES CAMEROON TAX POLICY DISCRIMINATE AGAINST WOMEN AND

FOREIGNERS?....................................................................................................................................................................................31
Section One: Examining Cameroon’s Tax Policy Following the Principles of a Good Tax System.......32
Section Two: The Non-Discriminatory Nature of the Cameroon Tax System..............................................34
CONCLUSION AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................................................................36

FOREWORD
T
he Nkafu Policy Institute is delighted to
share with you the results of a report that
critically appraises the declaration and
payment of taxes in Cameroon. Indeed, since 2004
the Doing Business Index (DBI) of the World Bank
has been ranking national economies based on
their performance in several domains. One of these
domains includes the “paying taxes” indicator. It
records taxes and mandatory contributions that
medium-size companies must pay in a given year
and equally measures the administrative burden
of paying taxes and contributions and complying
with post-filing procedures. Therefore, the weight
of the tax burden remains a decisive element in the
attractiveness of an economy as it encourages or dissuades national and foreign investors, widens or
reduces the tax base, stimulates or refrains entrepreneurship.
During the 2009 and 2016 General Census of Enterprises by the National Institute of Statistics, the
following key question was asked to top management personnel: “What are the most important
obstacles to entrepreneurship in Cameroon?” Taxation was cited as the first major obstacle regardless
of cities, according to National Institute of Statistics reports.
Based on this background, this report seeks to answer the questions:
a. What are the procedures involved in declaring and paying taxes in Cameroon?
b. What is the ease of these procedures?
c. How does this influence entrepreneurship in the country?
d. Does the tax policy discriminate against women and foreigners?
This thematic report is comprised of four chapters, including policy recommendations. The first
chapter looks at Cameroon’s past performance in the “paying taxes” indicator from 2007-2020.
Cameroon’s rank is analyzed in section one while improving future ranking is suggested in section two.
Chapter two examines the influence of tax regimes and the general tax code on entrepreneurship. An
overview of the tax regimes and the general tax code is provided in section one, whereas the effects of
taxation on entrepreneurship are scrutinized in section two. Chapter three focuses on the governance
perspective as regards tax declaration and payment procedures in Cameroon. It examines manual
and electronic procedures in sections one and two. It also studies the benefits and problems of online
filing and payments systems in Cameroon. Finally, in chapter four, Cameroon’s tax policy is analyzed
following the principles of a good tax system in the first section, while the second section analyses
whether the tax policy discriminates against women and foreigners.
In the final analysis, it emerges that Cameroon has made some progress and reforms on the various
components of the “paying taxes” indicator. For example, the number of hours necessary to pay taxes
THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

5
went from 1300 hours in 2007 to 624 hours in 2020. Also, electronic payment has been established as
a compulsory mode of payment of taxes and duties for large companies falling within the portfolio
of the management of large companies. On the one hand, the aim is to ease the procedures. On the
other hand, it aims at fighting against corruption generally observed in the manual procedure of tax
declaration and payment. Moreover, it is observed that the Cameroon tax policy does not discriminate
against foreigners and women. The same tax laws bind both men and women. Private sector companies
and non-governmental organizations are treated equally according to the tax policy.
However, the analysis in this report brings to light the fact that the aforementioned progress and
reforms are not yet significant. The country went from the 143rd position in 2007 to the 181st position
in 2020, which shows that the country’s position has rather deteriorated. This is a shred of strong
evidence that taxation remains a major constraint to the development of formal business ventures
in Cameroon despite the government’s efforts in the 2021 Finance Law to reduce the tax burden on
companies.
Mme Fri ASANGA
Interim Chief Executive Officer

Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation
6 THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
F
irst of all, the Nkafu Policy Institute would like to thank the Atlas Network for attributing this
grant to achieve the Cameroon DBI project. The data were collected from the following sources:
(i) World Bank Country Office - Cameroon, (ii) the Directorate General of Taxation - Camer-
oon, (iii) the African Development Bank, (iv) the International Monetary Fund, (v) Pricewaterhouse-
Coopers, and (vi) Business in Cameroon online magazine just to name a few. Our team also conducted
field research at the Specialized Taxation Centre in Yaoundé. Without being exhaustive, we would like
to thank all those anonymous people who were kind enough to provide us with the information for
this report.
Specifically, we would like to thank Dr. Louis-Marie Kakdeu (Director of Nkafu Fellows and Team
Lead of the Cameroon DBI Project) for leading the team which realized this work. The team com-
prised members of the Nkafu Policy Institute’s Analysts, who specialize in economic policies. They are:
• Ulrich D’Pola Kamdem, Senior Economic Policy Analyst;
• Dinga Tambi Appollinaris, Research Assistant.
Our thanks also go to the management team of the Nkafu Policy Institute and of the Denis and Leno-
ra Foretia Foundation, who put the means at our disposal to carry out this work.
We finally thank all the reviewers: Dr. Peter Sakwe Masumbe (Policy Fellow at the Nkafu Policy In-
stitute) and Dr. Fuein Vera Kum (Research Fellow at the Nkafu Policy Institute); and the editor: Dr.
William Hermann Arrey (Senior Fellow at the Nkafu Policy Institute) for their dexterity in prodding
the accomplishment of the task set forth in this work.

7
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYM
CDI: Centre Divisionnaire des Impôts
CEO: Chief Executive Officer
CIT: Corporate Income Tax
DGT: Directorate General of Taxation
FCFA : Franc de la Communauté Financière Africaine
FDI: Foreign Direct Investment
GTC: General Tax Code
IMF: International Monetary Fund
NEF: National Employment Fund
PIT: Personal Income Tax
TLP: Tax on Land Property
VAT: Value-Added Tax

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A
chieving both the status of an emerging economy by 2035 and the United Nations’ Sustainable
Development Goals requires mobilizing more resources to fund public goods and services in
Cameroon. Though taxation offers a stable and predictable source of government revenue
(approximately 58.63% of Cameroon’s budget in 2020) as compared to other sources such as foreign
aid or mineral royalties, expanding the tax-base in an economy is not only associated with more
revenue collection. Indeed, more taxes could lead to a more informal system drawing on Arthur
Laffer’s principle of “too much tax kill tax.” Also, expanding the tax base could increase the time and
the number of payments for tax compliance. Therefore, policymakers are confronted with a dilemma:
Attain maximum revenue and economic growth with minimum distortions.
In keeping with its mission, and this report, entitled “The Declaration and Payment of Taxes in
Cameroon: A Critical Appraisal” the Nkafu Policy Institute undertakes the fourth in a series of its
six thematic reports dedicated to the Doing Business Index Project (DBIP). The report scrutinizes
the business environment in Cameroon, specifically about how prospective business owners and
investors could declare and pay taxes in the country. It proposes useful suggestions to the Government
of Cameroon for improving its fiscal policy, especially those which revolve around the micro-and
macro-economic issues. The main objective of this report is to offer informed knowledge in public
policymaking, to public policymakers in Cameroon, as the mandatory catalysts for improving or
easing the Doing Business Concept in Cameroon’s business, economic, social, and political landscapes.
The following lessons can be drawn from this report:
1. Cameroon’s Ranking in the “Paying Taxes” Indicator: Over the past 15 years, the world
has seen substantial improvements in the ease of paying taxes, driven largely by advances
in technology, but Cameroon has been moving backward and forward regarding the ease
of paying taxes. Indeed, some progress has been made on the various components of the
“paying taxes” indicator. For example, the number of hours necessary to pay taxes went from
1300 hours in 2007 to 624 hours in 2020. Besides, since February 3rd, 2016, it has been made
possible to pay taxes online in the Central African subregion. This system consists of declaring
tax revenue through the internet. Initiated by the Directorate General of Taxation (DGT), the
objective of the online declaration is to avoid the physical movement of the taxpayer to the tax
center to which he/she is attached. But despite the aforementioned progress and reforms, the
country went from the 143rd position in 2007 to the 181st position in 2020, which shows that
the country’s position has rather deteriorated. Therefore, it becomes extremely important to
revisit the online filing and payment system put in place in 2016, which has not been effective.
Fiscal authorities should also encourage the use of mobile phones through mobile money to
pay taxes. This would help reduce time and make it easier and cheaper for taxpayers.
2. Tax Regimes, the General Tax Code, and Entrepreneurship: In Cameroon, taxes and
duties payable are grouped around direct taxes, indirect taxes and local taxes, and para
fiscal taxes. The tax legislation distinguishes three tax regimes depending on the turnover,
size, and legal form of the company. They include a flat-rate taxation system, a simplified
taxation system, and an actual earnings taxation system. But, irrespective of the tax regimes,
entrepreneurs consider taxation as the top constraint they face when they want to develop
their activities (2009 and 2016 General Census of Enterprises by the National Institute of
Statistics). Part of the solution, therefore, is to lower the tax rate to attract more (foreign
direct) investors/entrepreneurs and improving the business climate. Cameroon policymakers

9
are already considering this proposal. For example, in the 2021 Finance Law, the corporate
tax rate went from 30% to 28% for companies with a turnover less or equal to 3 billion CFA
Francs. When adding up council taxes, the total tax rate for such companies is exactly 30.8%
as of 2021. But a 5% cut in the corporate tax rate could be interesting for small and medium-
sized companies.
3. A Declarative Tax System: Cameroon practices a declarative tax system. In other words,
taxpayers have to declare their income and how much taxes they have paid. On the one hand,
this can be done manually at the level of small tax units before the 15th of every month. Cash
payments are accepted because, most often, the amounts are less than 100 000 FCFA. On
the other hand, the declaration can be made online, on or before the 15th of every month,
via the payment platform FISCALIS for taxpayers of the large tax unit, medium-size unit,
and specialized tax centers. To secure revenues and harmonize procedures, the Minister
of Finance, in December 2020, prohibited the payment of taxes and duties in cash to the
fiscal network. But, a good number of taxpayers still face difficulties using the online system
effectively. This is the reason why some taxpayers still prefer to take stands at tax offices to
declare their taxes manually. Consequently, the objective of making easy and rapid the filing
and payment of taxes has not been fully attained.
4. Tax Discrimination: Cameroon’s tax system does not provide tax outsiders differently from
insiders. This also true for women and men. Private sector companies and non-governmental
organizations are treated equally according to the tax policy. However, there is a beneficial tax
system applicable to diplomatic and consular missions and international organizations and
similar bodies based in Cameroon guided by international conventions.
Overall, the report also shows that taxpayers should be nudged towards greater compliance via
more financial education to ensure they pay their taxes, thereby applying the principles of fiscal
democratization through taxation payment liberalization in Cameroon on the one hand. On
the other hand, based on the findings in the report, it is urgent to improve the ethics of the tax
administration, which is often perceived by citizens as a nest for embezzlers.

CHAPTER 1
CAMEROON’S PAST
PERFORMANCE ON PAYING
TAXES INDICATOR: AN
ANALYSIS
T HE DEC LA RATION A ND PAYM E NT OF TA X E S IN

C A ME R OON: A C R ITIC A L A P P R A ISA L
T
he Doing Business Index (DBI) of the World Bank, since 2004, has been ranking national
economies based on their performance in several domains. One of these domains is the
Paying Taxes Indicator. It records taxes and mandatory contributions that medium-size
companies must pay in a given year and equally measures the administrative burden of paying taxes
and contributions and complying with post-filing procedures (Doing Business Index - World Banks,
2020). Taxes and contributions measured include the profit or corporate income tax, social security
contributions and labor taxes paid by employers, property taxes, property transfer tax, dividend tax,
capital gains tax, financial transactions tax, waste collection taxes, vehicle and road taxes, and any
other small taxes or fee.
Section 1: Analysis of Cameroon’s Ranking in the Paying Taxes Indicator
The Paying Taxes Indicator Measures:
a. Tax payments for a manufacturing company (number per year adjusted for electronic
and joint filling and payment)
b. The time required to comply with three (03) major taxes (hours per year)
c. Total tax and contribution rate (% of commercial profits)
d. Post filling index: time to comply with a Value-Added Tax (VAT) refund (hours), time to
obtain a VAT refund (weeks), time taken to comply with a corporate income tax correction
(hours), time taken to complete a corporate income tax correction (weeks).
Over the past 15 years, the world has seen substantial improvements in the ease of paying taxes, driven
largely by advances in technology (PwC, 2020). This has not been the case in Cameroon, which has
been moving backward and forward regarding the ease of paying taxes. In this regard, the table below
(Table 1) shows Cameroon’s ranking in the last thirteen years.

Table 1: Cameroon Ranking in the Doing Business Indicator as Regards to Paying Taxes
(2007-2020)
Total tax
Post
Payments Time and contri-
filling Global
Year Rank (number per (hours bution rate
index DBI rank
year) per year) (% of the
(0-100)
profit)
2007 143 39 1,300 46.2 - 152

2008 166 41 1,400 51.9 - 154
2009 171 41 1,400 51.4 - 164
2010 170 41 1,400 50.5 - 171
2011 169 44 654 49.1 - 168
2012 171 44 654 49.1 - 161
2013 176 44 654 49.1 - 161
2014 180 44 630 48.8 - 168
2015 181 44 630 48.8 - 158
2016 180 44 630 48.8 - 172
2017 180 44 630 57.7 48.39 166
2018 183 44 624 57.7 49.31 163
2019 182 44 624 57.7 49.31 166
2020 181 44 624 57.7 49.3 167
Source: World Bank DBI Reports, Cameroon Economy Profile, 2007-2020.
From the above table, the post-filling index appeared in 2017 when Cameroon increased the minimum
tax rate for companies (DBI, 2017).1 This was a reform that made it easier to pay taxes in Cameroon
according to the government but was the contrary for taxpayers. The same year, the General Tax Code
was amended on January 1st. This tax code spelled out the taxpayer’s obligations concerning the need
to file a tax return for income earned from their business venture during the period serving as tax base
on or before March 15th annually (Section 18(1)).
We noticed that between 2016 and 2017, there was an increase of almost 9% of the profit as regarding
total tax and contribution rate that can be explained by higher taxes routinely charged by the customs
officials in Cameroon.
From the aforementioned table, it appears Cameroon has made efforts throughout the years to reduce
the number of hours necessary to pay taxes. It went from 1300 hours in 2007 to 624 hours in 2020.
Furthermore, before the 2017 reform on post filling index, Cameroon had made a previous reform in
2016. Since February 3rd, 2016, it has been made possible to pay taxes online in the Central African
subregion. This system consists of declaring tax revenue through the internet (Entreprendre Daily,
2016). Initiated by the Directorate General of Taxation, the objective of the online declaration is to
avoid the physical movement of the taxpayer to the tax center to which he is attached. The latter will
no longer brave long distances to complete its declaration formalities; it will now be able to save time,

13
energy, and cost. To make this project a reality, the DGT set up earlier 2020 a tax payment system
named Syampe dedicated to businesses, students, sellers, employees of all categories through mobile
phone operators. On the Syampe platform, there is access to a control panel that gives the user a
real report of their most recent operations as well as their progress status: either paid, invalidation,
archived, or rejected (Investir au Cameroun, 2020).
If we consider the year 2011, we notice that there has been a drastic reduction in time which went from
1400 hours in 2010 to 654 hours in 2011. Such a sudden change can be explained by the modifications
made by the 2011 Financial Law of Cameroon regarding some articles of the General Code on Taxation.
These modifications implied a delay in the payment of the Personal Income Tax, which “must be
returned by the 15th of the month at the latest” (Article 82). Also, concerning enterprises, tax payment
was then supposed to be completed exclusively by bank transfer or online (Article I.7). The whole
Financial Law of 2011 modified 52 articles, which reduced the time taken to complete transactions.
This improvement moved Cameroon from 170 in 2010 to 169 in 2011. The number of payments per
year increased to 44 while the total tax rate was reduced to 49.1% of the profit.
Concerning the number of taxes, DBI data for 2020, as seen from the table above, indicates tax
payments for the year 2020 at 44. The Directorate General of Taxation has contested this number of
taxes. The DBI was not updated. It was a failure in the DBI data collection system.
It is noted concerning the rank that the country went from the 143rd position in 2007 to the 181st position
in 2020, which shows that the country’s position has rather deteriorated despite the existence of these
aforementioned reforms. This can be for several reasons. Some of the measures taken to reduce the time
spent in filing and payment of taxes, such as the online system instituted in 2016, have not been very
effective as the system faces several challenges. It has therefore failed to produce the intended outcome.
Moreover, while Cameroon has been making improvements between 2007 to 2020, other countries
that were better than Cameroon have also continued to make tremendous improvements on the
paying taxes index. Comparatively, these countries have made more efforts on the ease of paying taxes
than Cameroon. For example, in terms of time spent, Kenya has reduced hours spent in paying taxes
from 432, Morocco 468, Mozambique 200, Nigeria 1120, hours per year in 20072 to 180, 155, 200,343,
180 hours respectively in 2020.
Cameroon has made some progress on the various components of the paying taxes index. However,
the efforts made by other countries, especially in reducing the time spent in paying taxes, surpasses
the efforts made by Cameroon.
Cameroon has also regressed in the payment number per year. In 2007, the payment number was 39
(Paying Taxes 2007). Today the payment number has regressed to 44 (Paying Taxes 2020). As earlier
indicated, the Directorate General of Taxation contests this number.
The above-mentioned factors, among other reasons, explain why Cameroon still maintains a poor
ranking in the paying taxes index.
Cameroon has also regressed in the number of taxes. Even though some of these countries experienced
a slight drop, it is better than Cameroon’s performance from 1300 hours to 624 hours. This was an
improvement but not as good as other countries as seen above that reduced the time in paying taxes
to less than 400. As concerns the number of payments, Cameroon regressed from 39 in 2007 to 44 in
2020. This has impacted the position of Cameroon on the paying taxes index.
2. Paying Taxes The global Picture by Price Water House coopers/World Bank, can be found at https://
www.doingbusiness.org/content/dam/doingBusiness/media/Special-Reports/DB07-Paying-Taxes.pdf

Section 2. What Cameroon can do to Improve its Ranking Regarding the
World Bank’s Paying Taxes Indicator
Tax payments for a manufacturing company (number per year adjusted for electronic and joint filling
and payment);
Improving on the time required to comply with three major taxes (hours per year) and the tax payments for
a manufacturing company (number per year adjusted for electronic and joint filling and payment) relies
mostly on the online filing and payment system. Between 2011 and 2012, sixteen economies mandated or
enhanced electronic filing, eliminating the need for 196 separate tax payments and reduced compliance
time by 134 days3 (DBI Paying taxes 2013 Report). This is evidence of the online filing and payment system.
While Cameroon has made significant strides in reducing the time (hours per year to 624), a lot
still has to be done. It is extremely important to revisit the online filing and payment system put
in place in 2016, which has not been effective. Its ineffectiveness has failed to reduce the number of
hours taxpayers spend in filing and paying taxes per year. The Directorate has failed in the effective
management of this system. The government should revisit this system and ensure its effectiveness
to obtain the intended outcomes. It will be better for the government to get into a public-private
partnership by publishing calls for offers and have the best private-sector party that can effectively
manage the online filing and payment system. While ensuring the effectiveness of the online system,
the tax authorities should encourage the use of mobile phone operators through mobile money to pay
taxes. This would help reduce time and make it easier and cheaper for taxpayers.
Total tax and contribution rate (percentage of commercial profits): To improve on the tax and
contribution rate, the government needs to take into consideration the economic realities and make
proactive decisions that suit the situation in time. The economy of Cameroon, like every other in the
world since early 2020, has been greatly affected by the global pandemic. Some businesses have not
been able to survive. In its study devoted to the repercussions of the health crisis on Cameroonian
companies, GICAM indicates that “in absolute value, the loss of annual turnover could reach 3,139
billion FCFA compared to 2019 for companies in the modern sector and induce a drop in their capacity
to contribute to State revenues of around 521 billion FCFA.”
Celestin Tawamba, president of GICAM, proposed during the 2020 edition of the Cameroon Business
Forum that the Government should assist private sector firms during this period, first by clearing its
internal debt, and secondly, he proposed that Companies should not be made to pay taxes on their
annual turnover. These are recommendations that will help to guarantee the survival of companies
that have been in difficulties during this period. The survival of the private sector is a form of guarantee
for future tax contributions from commercial profits. Without this, most companies in the private
sector might get out of business because of the effects of the pandemic on the economy. This will affect
the percentage contribution of taxes from profits in the present and future.
Also, taxpayers should be nudged towards greater compliance to ensure they pay their taxes, thereby
applying the principles of taxation in Cameroon
Post filling index: time to comply with a Value-Added Tax refund (hours), time to obtain a VAT refund
(weeks), time taken to comply with a corporate income tax correction (hours), time taken to complete
a corporate income tax correction (weeks).
3. https://www.doingbusiness.org/content/dam/doingBusiness/media/Annual-Reports/English/
DB13-Chapters/Paying-taxes.pdf

15
To facilitate the process of filing VAT returns, the government should partner with private sector
companies that can operate automated cloud-based platforms for file transfer, reminders, and
sharing information and a single point of contact for all VAT compliance. Global companies such as
1STOPVAT have offered such services. This will facilitate the procedures of the government to control
filings and easily carry out refunds.
Corporate tax corrections should be treated upon identification of the problem or errors. This will help
to avoid the piling of several corporate income tax corrections to be done.
For Cameroon to improve its position in the ranking according to the Paying Taxes Index, we have
formulated some recommendations. It must be said that currently, the country occupies the 181st rank
out of 190 compared economies. The following actions could be taken:
First, improve the performance of online payment methods. It is necessary to put in place modern
and transparent electronic methods of taxation for the tax payment procedures for people not to be
robbed through high taxes because the national VAT rate in Nigeria is 7.5%, while Cameroon currently
runs a national VAT rate of 19.25%.
Second, encourage the use of mobile phone operators through mobile money to pay taxes. This would
help reduce time and make it easier and cheaper for taxpayers.
Next, taxpayers should be nudged towards greater compliance to ensure they pay their taxes, thereby
applying the principles of taxation in Cameroon. This can be done via financial education in schools
and universities or radio and TV programs on the importance of tax compliance.
Finally, improve the ethics of the tax administration, which is perceived as a nest of embezzlers by
citizens.

CHAPTER 2
TAX REGIMES AND THE

GENERAL TAX CODE: ARE
THEY FAVORABLE TO
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE
COUNTRY?

T
he tax system refers to the mode of taxation to which a company is subject. In Cameroon, taxes
and duties payable are grouped around:
a) Direct taxes: corporate income tax, personal income tax, patent, license, property tax
b) Indirect taxes: value-added tax, registration and stamp duties, a special tax on petroleum
products, special income tax
c) Local taxes and Para fiscal taxes: audio-visual license fee, contribution to the Crédit Foncier,
contribution to the National Employment Fund, social security contributions and municipal
taxes, such as the Tax on Land Property, liable to any natural or legal person who owns a
building, whether built or not, regardless of the amount of its turnover.
The declaration of the tax on land ownership is paid annually to the Tax Center of the location of the
building. The rate of the tax on land ownership is set at 0.1% of the value of the building, increased
by 10% for additional municipal tax (centimes additionnels communaux). The above tax returns and
payments are made at the Tax Center (Centre Divisionnaire des Impots) to which the taxpayer is
attributed, determined by the size of the company (capital) or the status.
Section 1. Overview of the Tax Regimes and the General Tax Code in
Cameroon
The above tax returns and payments are made at the Tax Center (Centre Divisionnaire des Impots)
to which the taxpayer is attributed, determined by the size of the company (capital) or the status.
Cameroonian tax legislation distinguishes three tax regimes depending on the turnover, size, and
legal form of the company. They include a flat-rate taxation system, a simplified taxation system, and
an actual earnings taxation system. These regimes relay to taxes levied on the turnover of companies.
In an interview with business in Cameroon in mid-2020, Emmanuel de Tailly, managing director of

Société Anonyme des Brasseries du Cameroun (SABC) and vice-president of employers’ grouping
GICAM, led a call for courageous tax decisions. He stated: “This crisis should offer the opportunity for
courageous decisions to be taken concerning taxation (...) I think the time has passed for turnover tax.
This tax must be replaced by an incentive and stable tax that favors the creation of value and long-
term wealth.”4
1. Flat Rate Taxation System

This tax is paid by moral or legal persons carrying out industrial or commercial activities with a
turnover of less than 10 million FCFA who are neither considered under the basic regime, simplified
taxation system, nor the actual earnings taxation system. This tax regime applies most often to sole
proprietor kind of businesses because they are typical of turnovers less than 10 million FCFA. This tax
is liquidated by the tax services in the application of the tariff adopted by the local public decentralized
territorial communities benefiting from the proceeds of this tax within a range fixed by category of
activity going from A to D.
2. Simplified Taxation

This is a tax system for sole proprietorships and corporate bodies with annual turnover equal to or
above 10 million and below 50 million FCFA. The corporation tax (Impôt sur le Revenu) is a direct
tax levied on all profits made by legal persons during a fiscal year, most particularly sole proprietors
and corporate bodies. Those liable for corporate tax under this tax system are legal persons, and
in particular capital companies, even if they take a single person form; partnerships and financial
unions that have opted for corporate tax taxation; public establishments, decentralized territorial
communities, and other legal persons governed by public law engaged in lucrative operations.
3. Actual Earnings Taxation System
This is a tax regime for sole proprietors and legal persons that realize an annual turnover equal to 50
million FCFA and above. Generally, the turnover amount of personal and legal persons determines
the tax regime under which they will be considered.
Section 2. Examining the Effects of Taxation on Entrepreneurship
2.1. Impact on the Decision to go Into Entrepreneurship
The rate of taxation is an important determinant for entrepreneurship. Of course, other factors are
also at play: the passion for entrepreneurship, the presumed prestige, and autonomy associated
with it equally determine the rate at which individuals create businesses. Nevertheless, “as research
techniques become more sophisticated, the hypothesis that high taxes reduce entrepreneurship (and
investment in general) becomes more and more confirmed. Moreover, “taxation has an upstream
effect on the decision to become an entrepreneur or not,” which explains why it is imperative to design
a malleable tax system that can reflect short-term macroeconomic fluctuations and longer-term
development objectives.
According to the 2009 General Enterprises Survey conducted by Cameroon’s National Institute of
Statistics, 50% of Cameroonian entrepreneurs considered the business climate as “not good.” Among
the many reasons proffered, taxation was the principal challenge, with corruption and access to credit
following in descending order. Moreover, according to public opinion, tax service is among the most
corrupt services in Cameroon.
For the majority of countries in the world, these are elements that are at the source of different tax
incentive policies, better known as “improving the business climate.” For African economies, in
particular, attracting foreign investment is critical to stimulating growth. To this end, reducing the tax
burden is always at the top of the list of recommendations by international institutions or business
indexes. It is, however, important to note that the rate of taxes should be fairer and designed in a
manner that doesn’t exacerbate the burden on entrepreneurs.
2.2. The Consequences of a High Corporate Tax Burden
The weight of the tax burden is a decisive element in the attractiveness of an economy. It encourages
or dissuades national and foreign investors, widens or reduces the tax base, stimulates or refrains
entrepreneurship.
An empirical study carried out in 19 African countries; Cameroon included for a working paper series

19
published by the African Development Bank5 empirically examined the impact of corporate income
tax rate changes in foreign direct investments net inflows in Africa. Results revealed that cuts in CIT
rates increase FDI net inflows in the host country and the neighboring countries in the short and long
run. Therefore, lowering the tax is an economic policy instrument that can attract more FDI.
Moreover, during the 2009 and 2016 General Census of Enterprises, if the CEO of an enterprise
was available for an interview, the CEO was asked, “What are the most important obstacles to
entrepreneurship in Cameroon?” The responses give a broad view of which constraints are top of
mind for businesspeople and allow one to test whether they vary across cities. According to reports,
for cities in which at least 20 CEOs were interviewed, taxation, corruption, and access to credit were by
far the most common obstacles mentioned, regardless of city.6
The General Tax Directorate (Direction Générale des Impôts) in Cameroon willingly exposes the
innovations of the 2020 Finance Law, which go in the direction, among others, of socioeconomic
promotion and improvement of the business climate. Some innovations include:
a. The extension of the youth employment promotion scheme, given its relevance as a lever
in bolstering youth employment (Article 105)
b. The strengthening of tax benefits granted to companies in economically affected areas,
through the exemption of VAT on their inputs and the reduction of 75% of their tax
arrears (Article 121)
c. VAT exemption for life insurance contracts with a savings component to promote long-
term savings (Article 128-13)
d. The abolition of registration fees on orders from public and Para public companies
(Articles 343, 543)
e. The consecration of tax mediation as an alternative means of settling tax disputes (article
L 140 bis)
Nevertheless, concerning the demands of entrepreneurs and recommendations made to improve

the business climate, Cameroon remains poorly ranked based on certain indicators as the country is
ranked 181st in the world in terms of tax payments.
Although reforms aimed at reducing the tax burden have been undertaken in 2012, especially for the
benefit of small taxpayers, and have led to redefine the number of tax systems (from 4 to 3), and to
take into account in determining the tax system, only the turnover regardless of the legal form of the
company, there is no perceptible and significant reduction of this burden.

CHAPTER 3
TAXES DECLARATION AND

PAYMENT PROCEDURES IN
CAMEROON: A CRITICAL
ANALYSIS FROM THE
GOVERNANCE PERSPECTIVE

T
he procedure of declaring and paying taxes determines the level of government tax revenues.
Tax revenues are, however, indispensable for government spending. The ease in the procedure of
declaration and payment determines the effectiveness in the collection of taxes. In Cameroon,
the General Tax Code guides taxpayers and tax administrators on the procedures of filing and paying
taxes. This chapter provides a comprehensive review of the procedure of declaring and paying taxes.
It concludes with the implications of e-filing in a government’s push to digitize the taxation system,
improve transparency, accountability, and governance. Cameroon practices a declarative7 tax system.
Taxpayers in Cameroon have two obligations, viz: (i) the obligation to declare taxes and (ii) the
obligation to pay taxes. Taxpayers have up to the 15th of every month to fulfill both obligations, if not
suffer penalties.8 Declaring and paying of taxes can only be done after registration and the issue of a
number to the taxpayer. According to the 2020 tax code of Cameroon, obtaining a taxpayer’s number
is obligatory for both institutions and citizens and is the 1st step today for every taxpayer, be it moral
or physical person.
The General Tax Code for 20209 stipulates that any natural or legal person is liable, as a statutory
or actual taxpayer, to payment of tax duty. Each natural or legal person must file an application
for registration with the competent tax authority of his area. This should be done within 15 working
days following the start of his activities and attach to such application a site plan of the business. A
single identification number shall be attributed permanently by the Directorate General of Taxation
upon the effective location of the taxpayer. After the completion of the registration procedure, the Tax
authority shall issue a taxpayer’s card free of charge to the taxpayer. The validity of the taxpayer’s card
shall be 10 years.
Taxpayers, upon obtaining a taxpayer’s number, must declare their returns with the tax administration
before the 15th of every month. There are two ways of declaring taxes: Manual declaration and
Electronic declaration. The procedures for declaration and payments, therefore, differ depending on
the taxpayer. While taxpayers of small tax units (Regime Simplifié) declare their taxes manually and
pay by cash, those of Medium size tax Units, Large Tax Units, and Specialised Tax Centres today can
carry out declarations of taxes and payments electronically.
Section One: Manual Declaration and Payment Procedure for Taxpayers at Small Tax
Units
Taxpayers in small tax Units10 declare their taxes manually and can pay by cash because most often,
the amounts are less than 100 000 FCFA. These taxpayers are required to declare their taxes before
the 15th of every month. From field research, taxpayers of this unit go through the following process to
declare and pay their taxes.
10. Term used in the context of personal income tax, where taxation may be imposed by reference to
separate individuals or to a group of individuals treated as one unit.

Figure 1. The Process to Declare and Pay Taxes at the Mvog-Ada Tax Center of Yaoundé
Source: Authors (results from field survey)
This measure has changed somewhat in the context of the execution of the 2021 finance law, and in
particular in the related circular, signed on December 30th by the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul
Motaze. Intending to secure revenue, the Minister prescribes “the prohibition of the payment of taxes
and duties in cash to the fiscal network and the generalization to the divisional computerized tax
centers of the payment methods enforced in the specialized management units, namely payment by
bank transfer or electronically.” Also, the Minister establishes electronic payment as a compulsory
mode of payment of taxes and duties for large companies falling within the portfolio of the
management of large companies. The text exceptionally authorizes the payment of taxes in cash only
at bank counters. Also, the circular enshrines the issuance and notification of receipts by electronic
means, with the consequence of eliminating manual receipts, which are sources of “various fraud.”
But, as always, a governance problem looms in the implementation which is postponed: we can read
that “The modalities of implementation of this reform will be defined by a specific text of the Minister
of Finance” and this is a way of killing this reform and going back to the old manual mode that we
present below.
Two official tax forms are filled for declaration, and after verification and confirmation of income
amount for the month following payment and receipt documents, both forms are stamped by the
tax administrator with authorization to pay. Upon cash payments at the cash desk of the center,
the cashier acknowledges payment by a payment stamp on the declaration form. The taxpayer then
deposits one copy of the form with the tax administrator and keeps another copy for future control
and audit.
The above steps in declaring, paying, and filing taxes take an average period of two to three business
days, especially between the 11th and 15th of every month when taxpayers are trying to avoid deadline
penalties. The manual process of declaring and paying process has some drawbacks:
a. Frequent physical interactions between taxpayers and tax administrators often lead to
corrupt practices. For example, in 2017, the Minister of Finance had to sanction no less than
137 agents of his administration. The charges against these employees revolved essentially
around the production of false receipts and the embezzlement of revenue. These agents used
to fabricate false documents attesting to the payment of collected revenue, although these
funds did not appear anywhere in the treasury books.

23
b. Overcrowding at tax centers with long queues between the 11th to 15th of every month when
taxpayers are making last-minute declarations.
c. The manual system makes work more difficult and cumbersome for tax administrators with
a lot of paperwork involved.
Section Two: Electronic Procedure for Taxpayers at Medium Size Tax Units,
Large Tax Units, and Specialised Tax Centers
Book two, manual of tax procedures, section M.2. - (2), and (3) of the General Tax Code refers to the
filing by taxpayers of the large tax unit, medium-size tax unit, and specialized tax centers. Returns
may be filed electronically. In this case, the generated tax assessment notice shall necessarily be
presented at the bank as a supporting document for the payment of the corresponding taxes and
duties. This is the case with taxpayers at the large tax and medium-size tax units. Enterprises falling
under a specialized management unit shall be required to transmit their statistical and tax returns
only electronically using the computer system established by the tax authorities.
The implication of this measure has been an improvement in public sector services in terms of
filing taxes and also a step ahead in the process of moving towards a digital economy. Moreover, tax
administrators at the specialized tax center of Yaoundé testified that the electronic system has led
to an increase in the number of declarations received. It is also perceived that the increase above the
expectation of tax revenue in 2016 is a result of the electronic process of filing and paying taxes which
contributed to reducing corruption.
According to the results of field research at the Specialised Tax Centre of Yaoundé, where taxpayers
11
have access to the online filing and payment platform, taxpayers of the large tax unit, medium-
size unit, and specialized tax centers go through the following procedures to declare and pay taxes
electronically:
a. The procedure of online declarations begins with the creation of an online account and
password by the taxpayer on the website.
b. Taxpayers of the above-mentioned units can declare their taxes online on or before the 15th
of every month. Upon declaration of their income, the system (FISCALIS) automatically
generates a document serving as authorization for the taxpayer to make payment of the
corresponding amount.
c. The taxpayer is required to print out the authorization document for payment and make
payments of the corresponding amount electronically.
d. The taxpayer, after making payments, files all documents online together with the receipts
from the payment and also attaches supporting documents as evidence for the declaration
and payments made.
e. Tax authorities from their desk can carry out control from the declaration made online,
payment, and attach supporting documents.
11. Field research at the Specialised taxation Centre in Yaounde, by Dinga Tambi, research assistant at
the Nkafu policy institute, August 6th, 2020.

The obligation to declare returns does not only apply to moral persons but also apply to public, and
private sector salaried employees, foundations, associations, non-profit organizations, managers or
beneficiaries of trusts, insurance trusts, or similar entities, as well as foreign taxpayers are operating
in Cameroon without a head office there-in. Accordingly, they must appoint a solvent representative
accredited by the tax authority.
Most often than not, different employers in different sectors deduct income taxes on the income of their
employees, declare these incomes at the end of every month, and make the corresponding payments
on behalf of the employees. This is similar to the act of large public corporations or private companies
with government authorization to deduct and retain taxes such as value-added tax and income tax
from payments they make to other smaller institutions or businesses and therefore declare and pay
the corresponding taxes to the state.
Few initiatives have been made to facilitate the procedures of declaring and paying taxes. Notably, the
adoption of electronic means of declarations for Large Tax Unit, Medium Size Taxpayers Office, and
taxpayers in the specialized tax centers for public establishments or enterprises. This, however, has
not facilitated the process because the electronic system has been facing several challenges ranging
from the inefficiency of the website to internet problems, among others which have rather made the
procedure difficult. As concerns the small taxpayers’ unit, they still face the challenge of queuing up in
tax centers for declarations and payments.
In the fifth review under the extended credit facility, the IMF continues to demand changes to Cameroon’s
taxation policy, designed to improve government tax revenues whilst bolstering productivity.
Section Three: The Benefits and Problems of Implementing Online Filing and
Payment Systems in Cameroon
Tax administration is a basic function of a successful state, and taxation is essential for sustainable
economic development. An efficient method of filing and collection of taxes is very important to the
government and taxpayers. The concept of e-filing has been widely accepted by most governments
to ease the process of filing and paying taxes. According to corporate accountants of some Medium
size enterprises in Cameroon, with the manual system, it took an average of 2 days for medium and
large companies to declare, make payments, and file documents with tax administrators, especially
between the 11th- 15th of each month. E-filing,12 a simplified procedure, allows taxpayers to file their
returns without using the paper templates and without going to tax offices. This system aims at
facilitating the filing of returns via the reduction of compliance costs and time spent filing taxes.
Countries such as Mauritius, Gambia, Rwanda, and Morocco have made remarkable progress on the
ease of filing and payment of tax. The Gambia13 , with a score of 88.9, ranks 17th out of 190 countries on
the 2020 doing business Index from a position of 4714 in the ranking of 185 economies on the ease of
paying taxes 2013 before it implemented e-filing and payment of taxes in October 2013. The progress
can be justified from increased usage of Tax electronic services over time. The ease of filing and paying
taxes with a focus on the administrative burden of paying taxes and contributions and complying
with post-filing procedures (VAT refund and tax audit) is a major factor considered as concerns the
ease of doing business in different countries.
12. Directorate General of Taxation annual report 2016, pg 56.

13. https://www.doingbusiness.org/en/data/exploretopics/paying-taxes
14. Doing business 2013, economic profile Zambia.

25
Cameroon is yet to improve its ranking on the Paying taxes indices.15 It was ranked16 181st out of 190
countries in the paying taxes indices of the DBI report for 2020, with a score of 36.3 on 100.
Over the years,17 tax returns were filed manually. This paper-based form of declaring taxes made it
mandatory for taxpayers to go to the tax services for the filing of their returns, and as such, there
existed a lot of physical contact between the latter and tax officials. Since 2014, there has been a
resounding effort to attain full automation of procedures within the tax department. The pilot phase
of this process began in 2014 with the taxpayers of the Large Tax Unit. The reform aims at reducing the
number of trips (an average of 12 per year) made by these companies to fulfill their filing obligations.
As such, in a bid to reduce compliance costs, the Directorate General of Taxation in the course of the
2016 fiscal year, extended the e-filing of tax returns to all Medium Size Taxpayers Office, introduced
and consolidated the e-filing of public contracts, and initiated the e-filing of deeds of conveyance
for landed properties. As regards the technical work18 for the implementation of the infrastructure, a
specialized program (FISCALIS) was developed, as well as a secure data transmission network from
the companies to the tax administration. As of December 30th, 2016,19 100% of companies in the LTU
filed their returns electronically.
Modeste Mopa Fatoing,20 Managing Director of Tax Administration, announced to taxpayers using
the “tele-declaration” system that the online system could enable them to submit annual declarations
(statistics and tax declarations), generate tax notifications, and pay the corresponding tax amount
due.
The Taxation Head office in Cameroon has taken a few steps towards facilitating the online filing and
payment of taxes with the hope of a better position in the paying taxes index. Some tax administrators
have received training on the use of the online system. For example,21 from August 20th to 31st, 2019,
training a session on the e-filing of the statistical and tax returns was carried out in the Large
Taxpayers Office, Medium Size Taxpayers Office, and those of specialized Tax Centres. Non the less,
the technical challenges and malfunctions that arise with the system are beyond the control of the tax
administrators.
Efforts have also been made to make available manuals. The website22 for the Directorate General
of Taxation contains manuals and guides for electronic procedures of filing and payment online,
such as the guide to simplify online registration, manual on the process of online statistics, and fiscal
declaration. A good number of taxpayers still face difficulties using the online system effectively.
This is the reason why some taxpayers still prefer to take stands at tax offices to declare their taxes
manually. Consequently, the objective of making easy and rapid the filing and payment of taxes has
not been fully attained. Similar to the case with tax administrators, technical malfunctions of the site
are beyond the control of taxpayers.
The efforts made by the Directorate General of Taxation, to a greater extent, have not impacted the
taxpayers, tax administration, and the Country. This can be seen from Cameroon’s poor ranking in the
2020 paying taxes index at 181st position.
15. https://www.doingbusiness.org/en/data/exploretopics/paying-taxes
16. Economic Profile Cameroon, Doing Business 2020: Comparing Business regulation in 190 economies.
17. Directorate General of Taxation, Annual Report 2016.
18. Directorate General of Taxation, Annual Report 2016, pg 56.
19. Directorate General of Taxation, Annual Report 2016, pg 56.
20.https://www.businessincameroon.com/taxation/0604-7033-cameroonian-tax-administration-ini-
tiates-generation-of-online-tax-notifications-and-tax-payment, Thursday, 06 April 2017.
21. Radio-Press-Release No 013 from the Directorate General of Taxation, August 14th, 2019.
22. https://www.impots.cm/fr/documents/44.

3.1. Benefits of Making the Online Filing System Effective
The online filing and payment system, apart from facilitating the payment, would have several secondary
benefits if it was effective and serving its purpose at full capacity. Some of these benefits which should be
outlined to emphasize the need and importance of the effectiveness of the system include:
a. A drastic reduction in the time spent in filing and paying from between 24-48 hours averagely
(this is considering the usual large crowds of taxpayers at the centers between 11th to 15th of
each month) to less than 5 hours, everything being equal.
b. A large possibility is the reduction of corruption in the tax service, which is considered one
of the most corrupt in Cameroon by public opinion. There will be less physical interaction
between taxpayers and authorities which is always the opportunity for bribery and corruption.
Though ineffective, the e-filing and payment, which first started with the Large Tax Unit in
2014, saw an increase of 18.2% from 1 054 576.3 million FCFA in 2014 to 1 245 996.9 million
FCFA in 2015.23 Part of this increase is attributed to the electronic filing and payment system.
c. It will facilitate the traceability of all filings online and the possibility to identify and justify
errors easily. Making the online system effective with lead to an increase in the number
of taxpayers using the system for filing. This will ease the identification and resolution of
problems within short periods
d. While tax administrators at the specialized tax center, it has increased the rate of tax declaration
to more than 90%, more can be achieved if the system is more effective than it is today. More
taxpayers will declare their taxes, especially among taxpayers who have to declare nil.
Payment rates will increase because the system will automatically generate penalties on late
declarations and must be paid. Bribery that takes place between taxpayers and administrators in
cases of late filing and payments will be eliminated. On a general note, non-oil tax revenue has been
increasing at a larger rate from 2016 to 2019.
Figure 2. Evolution of non-oil tax revenues (2016 to 2019)

T OT A L T A X R E V E NU E
TOTAL TAXE REVENUE
3500
Amounts in Billion F.CFA
2924
Amounts in B illion F .C F A
3000 2712.03
2519.13
2500 2316.56
2000
1500
1000
500
0
2016 2017 Year 2018 2019
Y ears
Source: Realised by authors (Data from the Finance Laws of the State of Cameroon (2016-2019).
23. Directorate General of Taxation, Annual Report 2015, pg. 29.

27
The non-oil revenue will possibly increase by a higher proportion of all taxes that can be effectively
filed and paid online. Considering the advantages attributed to operating an effective online filing and
payment mechanism for taxes, the government should highly consider taking into consideration the
complaints from tax administrators and taxpayers.
3.2. Challenges of Making the Online Filing System Effective
The results of field visits24 at the tax administration specialized center of Yaoundé, where taxpayers
have access to the online filing and payment platform, there have been major challenges making
the electronic filing and payment as well as other online services about taxes very ineffective. The
intention of the government is putting in place the online filing and payment system of taxes was to
facilitate the process of filing, and payments, among other advantages, have failed to fully serve their
purpose. These tax administrators attest to the fact that the online filing and payment system has
created more confusion and has made work more difficult because of continuous irregularities in the
system. The government has not been able to manage the online platform for filing effectively.
According to some tax administrators at this center, electronic filing, declarations, and payment are
not very effective. Since the implementation of the electronic system, they encounter the following
challenges:
i. Frequent break down on the website, especially towards the deadline for filing and payments
when the site is crowded with taxpayers trying to avoid deadline penalties.
ii. Frequent maintenance work and changes on the website without notification have been
frustrating to tax administrators and taxpayers with the shutdown of the website, which
sometimes persists for two to three weeks.
iii. The electronic system sometimes causes irregularities. Taxpayers declare and forward
their electronic declarations and payments, which most often the tax administrators have
difficulties visualizing the declarations in the system. Consequently, the tax administration
might consider a particular taxpayer to be a defaulter.
iv. Internet connection is a major challenge faced as concerns the electronic system. Tax
administrators complain of unreliable internet connection, which most often is very poor
and makes work extremely difficult.
v. Frequent blackout is an issue. It disrupts the process of online declaration and causes
irregularities because most tax offices do not have any other alternative source of power.
vi. Moreover, there is a limit on the volume of documents that can be uploaded on the e-filing
system. Generally, taxpayers have to submit receipts and documents to justify the amount
they declare as taxes. This was possible during the manual system but impossible with the
electronic system considering the limit on the volume of documents that can be submitted.
Consequently, tax administrators cannot carry out desk control based on documents
submitted online
24. Field research at the specialised taxation Centre in Yaounde by Dinga Tambi, research assistant at
the Nkafu policy institute, August 6th, 2020.

vii. Taxpayers find difficulties printing out the authorization for transfer payment generated by
the system. At the end of the day, they have to get the authorization from the tax office.
viii. Numerous errors are made at the level of taxpayers because they have to declare and upload
payment orders without onsite assistance from tax administrators as previously. Taxpayers
sometimes pay the wrong taxes and amounts unknowingly.
ix. Tax account managers have more work making calls to taxpayers to confirm declarations
made online because the volume limit makes it impossible for taxpayers to upload all
supporting documents needed by tax administrators.
x. The purpose of the e-filing and payment system was to permit taxpayers to declare and upload
their payment orders online. An administrator at the specialized taxation Centre Yaounde
testified that she is yet to receive a single successful submission of payment order online.
Another estimated that only one out of 100 taxpayers succeed in uploading payment orders.
Taxpayers, after declaring online, still have to visit the tax office to deposit their payment
orders.
xi. Some taxpayers are adamant about changing and continue with the manual declarations
and payments.
xii. State Institutions such as the National Assembly and decentralized entities are recommended
to file and pay electronically to ease the process and reduce contact, but unfortunately, they
are reluctant to use the e-platform. They insist on declaring manually.
xiii. Determining late declarations from taxpayers has become more difficult. Tax authorities
sometimes cannot tell if the system is the problem or the taxpayer has not declared his taxes.
Tax account managers have to make frequent calls to rectify this.
The purpose of the e-filing and payment system is to bridge the gap of movement between the tax
administrators and the taxpayers and reduce stress and save time. Unfortunately, due to the above
challenges, the online platform does not fully serve the purpose for which it was intended. This is one
of the reasons why the paying taxes index ranking of Cameroon has not improved because measures
taken to facilitate the filing and payments are not efficient and create more problems than a solution.
The government has been making efforts concerning the website, which is the major source of most
of the challenges. Unfortunately, this has not been very fruitful, and taxpayers are rarely informed
before website maintenance or repairs. However, notwithstanding the challenges, tax administrators
at the Special Tax Centre acknowledge the fact that over 90% of online declarations of taxes are done
following the right procedure and assuming excellent internet connection and accessibility to the
website are successful. The problem is usually at the stage of payments and uploading of receipts.
To conclude, a lot still has to be done to ensure the e-filing system fully serves its purpose. Considering
the challenges outlined above, the government has to ensure the website (FISCALIS) is reliable for the
services it should perform. This is because over 90% of the challenges encountered are related to the
website. Electronic systems for filing and paying taxes, if implemented well and used by all taxpayers,
will benefit tax authorities, taxpayers, and the State.

29
From another dimension, the e-filing system put in place has reduced the rate of the tax deduction on
an annual basis. This is because manually, taxpayers registered expenses, including unlawful expenses
(bribes to tax administrators). At the end of the year, companies incorporate all these expenses in their
yearly financial report, thereby portraying lesser taxable net profit at the end of the year. This is not
the case with the e-filing system, where taxpayers have lesser contact with tax officials with lesser
expenses.

CHAPTER 4
DOES CAMEROON TAX

POLICY DISCRIMINATE
AGAINST WOMEN AND
FOREIGNERS?

A
ccording to Mason and Knoll (2012), states may be accused of “tax discrimination” when
they tax outsiders differently from insiders. Insiders refer to nationals, resident individuals,
and resident companies.25 However, in this chapter, our focus is on two categories, including
women and foreigners. We will seek to find out if the above-listed categories are differently taxed from
other socioeconomic categories in Cameroon.
Section One: Examining Cameroon’s Tax Policy Following the Principles of a

Good Tax System
A good tax system should meet five basic conditions: fairness, adequacy, simplicity, transparency,
and administrative ease. Most importantly, these principles should not differ or discriminate against
women and foreigners, and in consideration that most taxpayers are legal persons. Opinions might
slightly differ on what key elements should be taken into consideration to ensure a good tax system.
Nevertheless, there are five basic conditions that every good tax system should respect to the greatest
extent to be efficient. Cameroon tax system, just like every other economy in the world, takes into
consideration the most important principles necessary for efficiency in the tax system.
However, just like most other Sub-Saharan economies, Cameroon faces several challenges in
establishing an efficient tax system. This is because of the large proportion of the population involved
in informal economic activities such as agriculture and small businesses, most especially women.
These informal sector businesses are not consistent in their operation. It becomes extremely difficult
to determine or track business and personal incomes, mindful of the fact that some of these businesses
are not registered. On a general note, the most prominent of these principles include:
i. Fairness: According to the principle of equity, everybody should pay a fair share of taxes
based on two concepts: horizontal and vertical. Cameroon practices the proportional tax
system and the progressive tax system. Regardless of the tax system practiced high tax rates
in Cameroon inconvenient taxpayers. The consequence of this is a high level of tax evasion,
a phenomenon that stifles government efforts in realizing its tax objectives. An empirical
study sought to investigate the causes of tax evasion in Cameroon and propose remedies was
carried out. Data was collected through a survey carried out in the cities of Douala, Bafoussam,
and Bamenda and analyzed using the Ordinary Least Square estimation technique. The
empirical results were of positive and statistical significance and revealed that tax evasion in
Cameroon is caused by high tax rates, complex and opaque tax laws, inefficient and corrupt
tax inspectors, low income of taxpayers, evasion benefits outweighing detection penalties,
poor perception of the judicial system and dissatisfaction with the quality and magnitude of
public services and goods.26
25. https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1403&context=faculty_scholarship

ii. Adequacy: Setting up an efficient and fair tax system is, however, far from simple. The
ideal tax system in developing countries should raise essential revenue without excessive
government borrowing and should do so without discouraging economic activity and
without deviating too much from tax systems in other countries. This27 does not seem to be
the case with Cameroon. Budget deficits over the past years have left the government unable
to meet up with public expenses and infrastructural investments. The government has been
depending largely on external financing for most if not all of its infrastructural projects.
iii. Simplicity: The manual procedure of paying taxes in Cameroon has identified procedures.
The challenge arises from the fact that, towards monthly deadlines for tax filing and payments,
tax offices become extremely crowded with taxpayers trying to avoid paying penalties after
the deadline. The government since 2016 has been taking progressive steps towards the
effective implementation of the online filing and payment system for large, medium-sized,
and specialized taxpayers. The online filing and payment system has not been very efficient
and faces several challenges ranging from website breakdown, unreliable internet connection,
and electricity. This has rendered tax filing and payment very cumbersome.
iv. Transparency and Visibility: The Cameroon tax system maintains some degree of
transparency and visibility. Most especially in terms of information on tax requirements, the
official website of the Tax headquarters carries valuable information on tax procedures, and
this information is accessible to the general public. The tax code also a detailed document
on all information concerning different taxes in the country that is available online and
accessible to all taxpayers. However, corruption is still a major problem in the taxation
services even though most taxpayers are informed on the taxes that exist when it is supposed
to be paid and the true cost of transactions. Constant physical contact between taxpayers and
tax administrators has been fuelling the rampant corruption that takes place between both
entities. The government becomes the victim because funds meant for government coffers
fall into private hands and bank accounts. The rate of corruption in the taxation services has
been one of the motives for the online filing and payment systems adopted by the government.
Cameroon should consider reducing its tax rate. The corporate tax rate28 on profits, which stands
today at 30% (Cameroon General Tax Code 2020) plus an additional council tax of 10% applied to
make it a total tax rate of 33%, is a burden for most taxpayers and discourages economic activities.
Secondly, there is a need for the simplification of tax laws and, creation of a more conducive business
environment to boost business income, strictly follow up with payment of tax penalties into public
accounts, make the judiciary to be truly independent to show proof of fairness and transparency in the
treatment of tax matters while identifying and bringing corrupt tax authorities to justice. Government
authorities should be transparent and should be accountable in the use of public funds.

33
Section Two: The Non-Discriminatory Nature of the Cameroon Tax System
The Cameroon tax policy does not discriminate against foreigners. Taxpayers, especially the private
sector companies and Non-Governmental Organizations are moral persons, and no emphasis is
laid on their origin. These taxpayers are treated equally according to the tax policy. Furthermore,
it does not discriminate against foreigners operating businesses in Cameroon. The same tax rates
are applied to all businesses. However, there is a beneficial tax system applicable to diplomatic and
consular missions and international organizations, and similar bodies based in Cameroon guided by
international conventions.
2.1. Concerning Value Added Tax
According to the provisions of29 Section 128 (16) of the General Tax Code, all goods and services destined
for the official use of foreign diplomatic and consular missions and international organizations are
exempted from value-added tax subject to reciprocity, headquarters agreement and quotas laid down
by the competent authorities. The VAT rate in Cameroon which applies to other taxpayers is 19.25%
The scope of this exemption includes furniture purchased for the equipment of official premises
30
as defined in the 1961 and 1963 Vienna Conventions on diplomatic relations and privileges. These
are, specifically, household furniture, functional objects, and services attached to this furniture, office
furniture as well as services provided for the functioning of the mission (maintenance, repairs).
The diplomatic missions and related organizations can request from the Director-General of Taxation
the issuance of a certificate of exemption from VAT when acquiring the above-mentioned goods and
services based on pro forma invoices established by suppliers. The said certificate will enable them to
settle the different invoices exclusive of taxes.
2.2. The Cameroon Tax System and Women
The Cameroon tax system is non-discriminatory when it comes to gender. The same tax laws bind
both men and women. However, the gender phenomenon always has a way to influence the realities
with economic variables. This is most particularly in most parts of Africa, where women still face
economic discrimination.
This has impacted the contribution of women to national tax revenue. In Cameroon, just as the
case with several other African countries, women are less likely to be inside the tax net because they
earn less income and make up a larger percentage of the informal sector. They are most often self-
employed or are unpaid family workers, where their earnings are not reported and therefore more
likely to escape tax
Moreover, like the case in some other African countries, in some cultures in Cameroon, women are less
likely to own land titles and other properties. They, therefore, contribute a lesser quota of taxes from
land and property.
On a general note, discrimination against women in different economic circumstances has increased
their likelihood to escape taxes and reduced their contribution to national tax revenue.
29. Section 128 (16) of the General Tax Code Edited on the 1st of January 2020.
30. http://www.minfi.gov.cm/en/tax-system-applicable-to-diplomatic-and-consular-missions-and-to-in-
ternational-organizations-and-similar-bodies-based-in-cameroon.

2.3. Concerning the Special Tax on Petroleum Products
Fuel consumptions destined for the official use of diplomatic and consular missions are admissible
for exemptions. Therefore, only official vehicles used by Heads of missions and other senior personnel
who have diplomatic status are concerned by this provision.
2.4. Concerning Registration Fees

Diplomatic and consular missions are exempted from registration fees when acquiring or leasing
landed property or houses for their official use subject to reciprocity and according to the provisions
of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic privileges and immunities and Section 338 (24)31 of the
General Tax Code. The above exceptions apply only to diplomats and consulates and are bound by
international conventions such as the Vienna Convention. Private foreign companies are considered
moral persons and are treated like every other company.

35
CONCLUSION
AND POLICY
RECOMMENDATIONS
I
n 2020, Cameroon occupied the 181st rank out of 190 economies in the Paying Taxes Index of the
World Bank’s Doing Business Index. Indeed, paying taxes in Cameroon requires a huge number of
hours and payments per year on the one hand; and creates a huge constraint on companies’ profits
on the other hand. Specifically, it requires 44 payments per year in Cameroon as compared to 36.6
payments in Sub-Saharan Africa and only 10.3 payments in countries members of the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Also, paying taxes in Cameroon requires
624 hours per year as compared to 208.6 hours in Sub-Saharan Africa and 158 hours in the OECD.
Finally, the total tax and contribution rate (expressed as a percentage of profit) is estimated at 57.7%
in Cameroon, whereas it is 47.3% in Sub-Saharan Africa and 39.9% in the OECD.32 Based on this
background and following the facts and statistics presented in the chapters of this report, a major
question remains: What can Cameroon do to improve its ranking regarding the World Bank’s Paying
Taxes Indicator? To answer this question, we believe the following actions should be taken:
1. Reducing Tax Rates to Encourage Private Savings, Private Consumption, and

Private Investments: Indeed, entrepreneurs pay the corporate tax, and consumers pay
the added value tax (19.25%). Put together, these rates are very high compared to those of a
growing economy like Nigeria.33 In this country, for example, the corporate tax is 30%, and
the added value tax is 7.5%. Because of these structural differences, it will be very difficult
for Cameroonian entrepreneurs to compete with their colleagues in Nigeria. Rwanda, for
example, reduced its corporate tax rate by 5%, from 35% in 2006 to 30% in 2007. This tax rate
reduction has had a direct consequence in sustaining the economic boom of the last decade,
helping to make the country a major destination for foreign direct investments in Africa.34
2. Reinforcing the E-Filing System to Reduce the Time Spent Paying Taxes and the
Number of Payments per Year: Indeed, a lot still has to be done to ensure the e-filing system
fully serves its purpose. Considering the challenges outlined in this report, the government
has to ensure the website (FISCALIS) is reliable for the services it should perform. This is
because a large majority of the challenges encountered in the e-filing system are related to
the website. And yet, it is generally admitted that electronic systems for filing and paying
taxes, if implemented well and used by all taxpayers, will benefit tax authorities, taxpayers,
and the State.
3. Improving the Financial Regulatory Framework With Simplified Tax Laws and the
Creation of a More Conducive Business Environment to Boost Businesses’ Incomes:
This should be accompanied by the following measures: strict follow up with payment of
tax penalties into public accounts, make the judiciary to be truly independent to show proof
of fairness and transparency in the treatment of tax matters while identifying and bringing
corrupt tax authorities to justice, i.e., making government authorities transparent and
accountable in the use of public funds.
32. https://www.doingbusiness.org/content/dam/doingBusiness/country/c/cameroon/CMR.pdf (page

39).

37
4. Improving the Performance of Online Payment Methods: It is necessary to put in place
modern and transparent electronic methods of taxation for tax payment procedures so that
people will not be robbed. For example, fiscal authorities should encourage the use of mobile
phone operators to pay their taxes promptly. This would help reduce time and make it easier
and cheaper for taxpayers. This practice is already going on amongst Cameroon’s fiscal
authorities, who successfully collect land taxes via mobile money. Such good practice should
be generalized to other taxes, including registration fees or municipal taxes, just to name a
few.
5. Catalyzing Taxpayers’ Compliance and Improving the Ethics of the Tax

Administration: Taxpayers should be nudged towards greater compliance via more
financial education to ensure they pay their taxes, thereby applying the principles of fiscal
democratization through taxation payment liberalization in Cameroon on the one hand; and
on the other hand, it is urgent to improve the ethics of the tax administration which is often
perceived by citizens as a nest for embezzlers.

Cameroon :
Opposite Collège Jésus-Marie
Simbock - P.O.BOX 13415 - Yaounde,
Cameroon
Telephone : +237 222 31 15 84
United State:
8005 Dancing Fox Road Atlanta, Georgia
30032 +1 678 223 3746
For general information, please contact us
at the following address:
info@foretiafoundation.org

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THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT

Dr. Louis-Marie Kakdeu, Ulrich D’Pola

To cite this report:

Kakdeu, L, M., D’Pola, K.U., & Dinga, T. A., (2021)

For general information, contact us at info@foretiafoundation.org

Copyright © 2021 - The Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation

Section 1: Analysis of Cameroon’s Ranking in the Paying Taxes Indicator...................................................12

CHAPTER 3: TAXES DECLARATION AND PAYMENT PROCEDURES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL

CHAPTER 4: DOES CAMEROON TAX POLICY DISCRIMINATE AGAINST WOMEN AND

CONCLUSION AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................................................................36

Based on this background, this report seeks to answer the questions:

b. What is the ease of these procedures?

c. How does this influence entrepreneurship in the country?

d. Does the tax policy discriminate against women and foreigners?

THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

Mme Fri ASANGA

Interim Chief Executive Officer

6 THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

• Ulrich D’Pola Kamdem, Senior Economic Policy Analyst;

• Dinga Tambi Appollinaris, Research Assistant.

THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

CDI: Centre Divisionnaire des Impôts

CEO: Chief Executive Officer

CIT: Corporate Income Tax

DGT: Directorate General of Taxation

FCFA : Franc de la Communauté Financière Africaine

FDI: Foreign Direct Investment

GTC: General Tax Code

IMF: International Monetary Fund

NEF: National Employment Fund

PIT: Personal Income Tax

TLP: Tax on Land Property

VAT: Value-Added Tax

8 THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

The following lessons can be drawn from this report:

THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

10 THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

T HE DEC LA RATION A ND PAYM E NT OF TA X E S IN

Section 1: Analysis of Cameroon’s Ranking in the Paying Taxes Indicator

The Paying Taxes Indicator Measures:

c. Total tax and contribution rate (% of commercial profits)

12 THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

2007 143 39 1,300 46.2 - 152

Source: World Bank DBI Reports, Cameroon Economy Profile, 2007-2020.

THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

14 THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

16 THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

TAX REGIMES AND THE

T HE DEC LA RATION A ND PAYM E NT OF TA X E S IN

In an interview with business in Cameroon in mid-2020, Emmanuel de Tailly, managing director of

1. Flat Rate Taxation System

18 THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

3. Actual Earnings Taxation System

Section 2. Examining the Effects of Taxation on Entrepreneurship

2.1. Impact on the Decision to go Into Entrepreneurship

2.2. The Consequences of a High Corporate Tax Burden

THE DECLARATION AND PAYMENT OF TAXES IN CAMEROON: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

Nevertheless, concerning the demands of entrepreneurs and recommendations made to improve