(Business in Cameroon) - The 2022 finance law has introduced new measures concerning the collection of land income and property taxes in Cameroon, the Directorate General of Taxation informs. 

According to the directorate general, the finance law now provides for a waiver of supplemental property taxes for taxpayers who readily pay their land income and property taxes. There is also a 15% penalty for taxpayers who spontaneously pay the land income and property taxes imposed on them following tax inspections. In addition, land income taxes have been reduced with the introduction of a fixed 10% tax rate for rents collected from non-professional tenants. 

The measures are aimed at simplifying land income and property tax procedures and optimizing the collection of those taxes, the 2022 finance law explains. Indeed, during the 2020 fiscal year, land income and property taxes contributed barely 2% of the non-oil tax revenues collected by Cameroon. This was due to collection difficulties in a context marked by the absence of fiscal civic-mindedness and the lack of coercive means when the taxes are not spontaneously paid, the finance law adds.

To address the situation, in 2018, the Directorate General of Taxation tried to incorporate land taxes on electricity bills but for unknown reasons, the government backed down on the measure.

S.A.