NL-Africa Tax Desk newsletter – August 2021

Dear reader,

The aim of this newsletter is to give you an easy-to-read overview of the latest tax updates in Africa.

This month’s newsletter includes an important update for Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, as the president of Nigeria signed the Petroleum Industry Bill, 2021 into law on August 16, 2021.  This Bill provides a new legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry. Next to that, this newsletter includes updates on the 2021 budgets of Ghana and Mauritius and several proposals for new CIT measures in South Africa (i.e., on loss carryforwards and interest deduction).

If you would like to know more about the matters addressed in this newsletter or have any feedback, you are welcome to contact Sebastiaan Paling (Head of the NL-Africa Tax Desk).

Best regards,
NL-Africa Tax Desk team
Meijburg & Co

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Table of contents

Africa

• COVID-19 global tax developments summary

• Electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) and digital reporting global updates

• Taxation of the digitalized economy - update of summary of global developments

• Transfer pricing documentation summaries by jurisdiction

• OECD transfer pricing country profiles

Ghana

• Tax provisions in 2021 mid-year budget review

Mauritius

• Extended deadline for FATCA and CRS reporting (COVID-19)

• Finance bill update

• Income tax treaty with Lesotho

Nigeria

• Employee versus independent contractor – tax implication

• Oil and gas industry update

• Tax treatment of statutory levy to support research and development

• Update on petroleum industry legislation

Rwanda

• Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and protocol signed

South Africa

• Emergency tax and unemployment insurance relief for employers (COVID-19)

• Fees imposed, foreign collective investment schemes

• Proposal to address tax avoidance on wealth transfers to certain trusts by individuals

• Proposal to expand application of the interest limitation rules

• Proposed amendment limiting loss carryforwards, implications for foreign tax credits

• Proposed changes to rules on utilisation of assessed losses

• Proposed extensions of tax incentives

• Proposed penalty regime, individual taxpayers not filing income tax returns