Cameroon, which is home to subsidiaries of numerous multinationals, is particularly affected by tax evasion, the Ministry of Finance (Minfi) informs.

The budget orientation document published in early July 2020, estimates the volume of illicit financial flow in Cameroon at 6% of GDP, i.e about XAF100 billion. It adds that studies evaluate yearly tax evaded from the African continent at over $80 billion (more than XAF45,000 billion).

According to the Minfi, to face this scourge, international tax cooperation was reinforced in recent years. That way, tax administrations’ efforts can be concerted for more efficiency.

Examples of measures taken in that regard are the densification of Cameroon’s tax treaties with bilateral and multilateral partners, its adherence to the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, its recourse to international tax expertise with the OECD/UNDP’s Tax Inspectors Without Borders.

Thus, from 4 in 2008, Cameroon’s tax convention rose to 10 in 2019. Between 2018 and 2020, the Tax inspectors without borders helped the country raise an additional XAF10 billion of tax revenues during its controls in the telecommunication and banking sectors.

Sylvain Andzongo