This information comes from a report on the improvement of fiscal performance of the timber sector for the period 2018-2019 published by the Ministry of Finance. The Bois sector is doing relatively well. At least, this is the first observation that can be made from reading the monitoring report for indicator 3.4 A / S on improving forest revenue performance in Cameroon published by Louis Paul Motaze, the Minister of Finances.
According to the said report, the implementation of which is linked to the forest revenue security program, forestry companies had a tax return of CFAF 100.3 billion between 2018 and 2019, i.e. CFAF 50.9 billion in 2018 and CFAF 49.4 billion. billion FCFA in 2019. According to the national daily Cameroon Tribune, these figures largely represent the payment of the annual forestry royalty (RFA) which is the main tax paid by companies.
However, according to the government media, everything is far from rosy in the area. The newspaper explains in its newsstand edition this Thursday, November 5, 2020, that bad practices are tough. The latter have also seriously contributed to reducing the forestry revenues mentioned above.
“The report therefore outlines the magnitude of tax risks in the sector. One of these risks is the decrease in turnover. In fact, companies still do not report the exact amounts of their cash. Nearly 30 forestry companies have been identified as being at risk of lowering their turnover declaration.
The volume of undeclared activity in view of their turnover reached 11.4 billion FCFA in 2018 and 16.7 billion FCFA in 2019, for a total of 27.8 billion FCFA. On the non-repayment of the annual forestry royalty, the calculation of this variable made it possible to identify 75 forestry companies (out of 158 holding at least one logging license) potentially at risk of non-repayment of the RFA over the 2018 and 2019 financial years. . The potentially unpaid RFA is 5.2 billion FCFA in 2018 and 5.5 billion FCFA in 2019, for a total of nearly 10.7 billion FCFA over the two years ”, we read in the columns of the newspaper directed by Marie Claire Nnana
Still in the category of bad practices. It is also important to note that 68 loggers also present a risk of non-payment of the felling tax. In addition, 29 of them do not have a tax ID number. The quantified assessment of this fiscal uncertainty shows 5.1 billion FCFA in 2018 and 4.8 billion FCFA in 2019, i.e. a total of 9.9 billion FCFA. Losses were also recorded, in particular because of the non-payment of the annual forestry royalty by the owners of certain titles which are nevertheless in operation.
As a reminder, the monitoring report for indicator 3.4 A / S on improving forest revenue performance in Cameroon is part of a process that goes from building a database to producing a report. analyzes of the data collected. These are based on an estimate of the tax revenue expected from logging compared to the level of payments actually paid by operators.
