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( DIRECTION GENERALE DES IMPÔTS ) – Difficulty in locating e-commerce operations, difficulty in obtaining documents that can serve as evidence. These are some of the issues raised by the taxation of the sector in African countries.
Faced with these challenges and the development of e-commerce, the beninese legislator has chosen to tax electronic consumption. Thus, in Republic of Benin, sales of goods, services and other operations carried out via e-commerce platforms are now subject to Value Added Tax (VAT).
According to Article 232 of the General Tax Code, “all business carried out in Republic of Benin is subject to VAT, even if the taxpayer’s domicile or head office is located outside the territorial limits”. This is an excellent tax measure that has the advantage of filling the legal vacuum that has characterized the sector until now. It consolidates the various reforms undertaken by the tax authorities to broaden the tax base.
In practice, the promoters of e-commerce sites locally, but also Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft known under the acronym GAFA are required to make a withholding of 18% VAT on each transaction made by any resident in Republic of Benin. They are obliged to declare and pay this collection into the state coffers of Benin.
What are the transactions covered by the measure? These are precisely the sales of goods and services made on beninese territory or through foreign or local e-commerce platforms. The commissions received by the operators of e-commerce platforms are also subject to VAT withholding.
This measure of taxation of operations via e-commerce platforms in Republic of Benin comes to establish a tax equity since non-virtual companies have always been taxed.
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