Burkina Tax News: Customs Compliance and eFilling

Recently, two events have been held in Burkina Faso to help companies with tax compliance. The first was a so-called “tax morning,” aimed at introducing people to new eFiling procedures that are said to simplify and speed up tax administration. The second was a customs tax compliance event aimed to improving compliance with cross-border tax obligations in Burkina Faso.

Companies Equipped To Use Electronic Tax Procedures

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Burkina Faso (CCI-BF) recently organized a tax morning in collaboration with the General Directorate of Taxes (DGI) in Ouagadougou.

The tax morning, organized for the benefit of taxpayers, aims to equip companies with new tools that access them to access DGI services online. Thus, participants received training to help them declare and pay the main taxes online. In addition, they also received information on the various services offered by the DGI for this purpose.

Added to this is the mastery of the process of joining online procedures. The Deputy Director General of the CCI-BF, Patricia Badolo, underlines that the Chamber of Commerce’s daily investment in building the capacity of companies on topics of interest such as taxation is well established.

This justifies the theme of this tax morning entitled: “Tax eFiling: a mechanism for business facilitation in Burkina Faso.” Hearing Ms. Badolo is also an opportunity for the CCI-BF to put companies in contact with the tax authorities so that they can have respondents in the event of difficulties related to the themes presented to them.

The frequency of this biannual initiative for taxpayers’ benefit is likely to increase, depending on the times and circumstances, says Martine Kouda, tax advisor to the CCI-BF.

An 85% Adherence Rate to Online Tax Procedures

If the 85% rate of support for the dematerialization of the services offered by the DGI is very significant, according to Talato Éliane Djiguemdé, Deputy Director General of Taxes, awareness-raising work with the targets concerned is necessary to achieve the objective. 100%.

To do this, “a great deal of awareness-raising and training is planned for small and medium-sized businesses,” explains Ms. Djiguemdé. According to him, any eFiling member can remotely acquire documents such as the tax status certificate, turnover certifications, and withholding tax certificates.

This all represents an advantage for entrepreneurs in terms of time and money since the latter previously constituted long queues in front of the DGI counters for their various needs.

Initiated in 2018, the process of implementing online tax procedures is ongoing. This is in the context of increased digitization of public and private administrations to achieve better results from the services offered.

The “Gabelles” Invite Customs Compliance

The association of female customs staff called “Gabelles” organized a conference on “tax citizenship in customs matters” last week at the Ouagadougou Customs School.

The objective was to help improve knowledge of customs procedures and obligations with respect to taxation. The meeting saw customs officers bring together traders, freight forwarders, and their colleagues around the official theme of “tax compliance in customs matters.”

According to the central customs inspector, Diane Kaboré, also president of the “Gabelles,” the choice of this theme is justified by the fact “that people are a little afraid of customs.” Through this conference, “the Gabelles” found the opportunity to talk about customs administration and promote good citizenship in all directions, with a particular emphasis on tax compliance in customs matters.

“When we talk about tax compliance in customs matters, it is about paying your taxes,” said Diane Kaboré. “It’s going to customs and declaring what you have to declare. It is to invite people to have citizenship,” she said.

Paying the Fair Tax

For speaker Adama Ilboudo, when we say taxation, “it can be both internal and customs taxation.” However, as customs officials, the “Gabelles” wanted the emphasis to be placed on customs taxation. This is, according to the speaker, “to promote voluntary compliance with customs legislation.

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(Featured image by Towfiqu Barbhuiya via Unsplash)

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First published in Le Faso (article 1, article 2), a third-party contributor translated and adapted the articles from the originals. In case of discrepancy, the originals will prevail.

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