2023 State Budget: Taxes may increase amid high living cost
Estimated at over six thousand billion FCFA, the 2023 state budget under scrutiny at the National Assembly in the November session, will witness an increase in tax on goods and services.
The Common External Tax will be 10% on imported rice products except for parboiled and perfumed rice from 1 January 2024.
In 2023, Cooperatives under GIC specialized in agriculture, fisheries, and animal husbandry will be exonerated from taxes on revenue within a 5-year period, while companies that record over FCFA 3 billion or more will pay a 25% tax.
Stamps on documents will increase from FCFA1000 to FCFA1500 and a special tax will be levied on petroleum products with FCFA 70 to be paid on a meter cube of natural gas meant for industrial use. All sectors have been affected and Cameroonians have begun expressing discontent.
“Taxes increase on a daily basis, but we do not see what is done with the money,” said Baayou Ulrich. Another Cameroonian Divine Mmam is rather clamoring for a salary increase to meet up with the rising government demands “Everything is increasing except salaries and standards of living. Is the government planning to suck us dry?” he lamented.
On Twitter, a hashtag has been created #BudgetCmr2023 to drum on the need to review these proposed changes before any adoption. On October 28, 2022, Finance Minister Louis Paul Motaze announced a possible increase in the state budget with a focus on the promotion of made-in-Cameroon products to keep the economy moving despite the hardship recorded due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The International Monetary Fund says economic growth within Africa could be reduced by around 3.7% in 2023 against 3.6% in 2022.
The proposed 2023 state budget by the Ministry of Finance must be scrutinized by parliamentarians, and validated by both Parliament and the Senate before being promulgated by the President of the Republic.
