Early 2020 changes as Algeria and Cameroon apply VAT to online sales

At the start of 2020, changes to the VAT laws in Algeria and Cameroon came into effect to tax the online sales of certain digital services.

Here we look at the highlights in each law change:

Algeria

The taxation reform in Algeria was prompted by changes approved by parliament in the 2020 Finance Law.

As a result, digital services consumed by Algeria-based customers will be subject to 9% VAT, or Taxe sur la Valeur Ajoutée (TVA) as it is known in Algeria.

At the time of writing, the administrative comments were not published and there is no information about the process to be followed to comply with those new regulations.

Cameroon

In Cameroon, at the end of 2019 (President Paul Biya signed the law on December 24 to be precise), Cameroon changed its VAT rules via their own 2020 Finance Law (Law No.2019/023) to extend VAT to foreign and local supplies of e-commerce platforms.

The scope of the rule change covers goods or services sold through foreign and local e-commerce platforms and commissions that are received by these platforms from these sales.

The law came into effect on January 1, 2020. There is also no sales threshold for affected foreign suppliers.

In relation to e-commerce platforms and commissions, a specific section of the Cameroon 2020 Finance law - section 149(c) - states the following: “The VAT due on commissions received on sales in Cameroon through e-commerce platforms shall be declared paid into the Treasury by the operators of these platforms.”

To meet their obligations set out in this section of the law, affected e-commerce platform operators must register for VAT with Cameroon’s tax authority.

Related reading:

• Africa: taxing digital services supplied by foreign companies

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