The General Directorate of Taxes and Domains (DGID) announced the lifting of the blocking of the bank accounts of press companies, initially frozen for non-payment of tax debts. A measure welcomed by the media sector, which sees this decision as a relief in an already difficult economic context for the media.
It was Mamadou Ibra Kane, president of the Council of Broadcasters and Press Publishers of Senegal (CDEPS), who relayed the news via a press release. According to him, the director general of the DGID, Abdoulaye Diagne, confirmed that instructions had been given to his services to unblock the accounts of the companies concerned. “The accounts of the press companies were unblocked, according to the instructions he gave to his services”, said Mamadou Ibra Kane.
The president of the CDEPS now invites the heads of companies concerned to contact their tax center to formalize the lifting of the measures and regularize their situation. “In principle, this should be effective for everyone,” he clarified, while asking media managers who still encounter difficulties to report. He assured that the Director General of the DGID remains available to resolve the remaining cases.
The initial decision to freeze the accounts was taken to recover tax arrears. Several media or press groups were among the entities concerned, which had raised concerns about the financial survival of some of them, in a sector already weakened by economic and technological challenges.
This lifting of the blockage comes following advocacy led by the CDEPS, which had warned of the potentially disastrous consequences of the measure for the viability of press companies and media plurality in Senegal.
Senegal
