The General Directorate of Taxes and Domains (DGID) has a new boss. Jean Koné was appointed to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday January 8. He succeeds Abdoulaye Diagne, who remained in this position for almost two years (editor’s note: he was appointed on February 9, 2023). The new boss of the Senegalese tax authorities is not entering unfamiliar territory. It is a pure house product. Before being promoted to number 1, he headed the Directorate of Intelligence and Tax Control Strategies
The change at the head of the Directorate General of Taxes comes in a context where the government is displaying major ambitions in terms of revenue mobilization because it will be necessary to finance the large-scale and “disruptive” programs to which it is committed. And also, reduce the outstanding debt and the cost of its repayment. The pressure will therefore be maximum on all those responsible for money entry counters for the Treasury. Thus, the DG of Taxes has already been told that he will have to look for money wherever it is found, particularly in the enormous informal sector which accounts for a large part of the GDP. It will also have to tackle tax evasion of which the current government in Dakar accuses multinationals. But be careful not to “destroy the whole henhouse” because “it’s impossible to prepare an omelette without breaking the eggs.”
On December 27, on the sidelines of his general policy declaration, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko announced the color by committing to increase the tax rate to at least 20%. “Today, we are at a tax pressure of just under 18%, well below the convergence criterion within UEMOA; our ambition is to increase this rate to at least 20%.”
In its plan, the government will work hard to eliminate tax loopholes as much as possible. Thus, the impact assessment of tax incentives will be carried out in order to retain only those which have demonstrated their effectiveness and their economic and social usefulness. Over the period 2019-2022, tax expenditures were estimated at 2,232 billion FCFA. Still within the framework of the new tax policy, the government will denounce any double taxation agreement unfavorable to the interests of the country. It remains to be clarified what we put in “interests of the country.”
Par AJ.SEditorial Committee
Senegal
