TaxJusticeAfrica

Monday, June 30, 2008

Zimbabwe: Mining Between a Rock And a Hard Place

30 June 2008 (Allafrica.com)
International condemnation of Robert Mugabe's controversial re-election as president of Zimbabwe has now turned to criticism of foreign businesses operating in the country, which are seen as helping to prop up the regime. Despite the meltdown of the economy, a number of multinational corporations have continued operations in the Southern African country and some have even proposed expansion. Last week mining giant Anglo American announced it would go ahead with a US$400 million plan to open new platinum mine.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Namibia: New VAT Guidelines

28 June 2008 (New Era)

Prime Minister Nahas Angula has instructed the Ministry of Trade and Industry to come up with practical guidelines to be followed by retailers to ensure total compliance to Government's decision on zero-rating tax on selected food items. This comes after both Parliament and the National Council passed the Value Added Tax (VAT) Amendment Bill.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Tanzania: New steps to net firms claiming tax losses

27 June 2008 (East African)
The days of corporations hiding behind losses to evade paying tax to the Tanzania government are numbered after the recent review of tax rates, fees and other charges, as well as tax administration and collection procedures.

Tanzania:Dar halts tax reforms in mining sector

27 june 2008 (East African)
Mining firms operating in Tanzania have received a temporary relief from tax reforms that were expected to be effected by the government in the financial year 2008/09. Instead Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Mustafa Mkulo in his budget said the government will introduce a 0.3 per cent alternative mining tax on the turnover of companies declaring losses for three consecutive years.

ABOUT TAX JUSTICE

Increasing foreign aid to Africa is often viewed as the panacea to address the poverty facing the continent. While the role played by international aid can not ignored there is an important element which is often ignored in this debate: the issue of the massive resource outflow from the continent.

The African Union estimates that up to US$ 148 billion is taken out of the continent annually because of corruption. These amounts exceed the current aid flow by a significant margin. It is indeed estimated that for every dollar that flows into the continent in terms of foreign aid and loans, there are 8 dollars flowing out through corrupt practices.

Issues around the massive resource outflow and its effects on the fledging economies of Africa have not been accorded due attention. The illicit capital flight and associated tax evasion , tax competition, transfer mis-pricing, revenue losses due to import tariff reduction brought by market liberalization, and other related aggressive tax avoidance malpractices by both MNCs and other rich elites in Africa have all significantly led to accelerated capital flows out of Africa.

The debate on economic development of the continent and the reduction of poverty would be missing a very important component if factors that encourage resource outflow, hamper domestic resource mobilization and encourage reliance on external financing for development are not addressed. There is need to raise the awareness among different actors of the impact these outflows have in hampering economic growth in Africa.