Value Added Tax (VAT) revenues stood at 3 billion kwanzas, since its implementation in the country, said Wednesday in Luanda the administrator of the General Tax Administration (AGT), Tiago Saints.
These are revenues related to the payment of this tax, since the progressive introduction (in January 2019) in the Angolan taxation system, as part of a set of measures followed by the AGT.
Tiago Santos was speaking during the 1st International VAT Conference, stating that the implementation of this tax, in addition to being a strong instrument for raising revenue, worked as an important element in attracting or retaining national and foreign investment in the various sectors of economy.
“In these three and a half years, VAT has acted as the main tax instrument for collecting revenue from most sectors of the country, and with the said tax it was possible to collect 30 percent of non-oil revenues”, he noted.
Still in the context of the advantages of VAT, he highlighted the fact that it is a tax with a wide incidence, covering, in a general way, “onerous transactions of goods, onerous provision of services and imports, covering points of production, distribution and trade.
This tax is based on the subtractive method of assessment and deduction”.
Tiago Santos explained that the introduction of VAT in the tax system, replacing consumption tax, allowed the expansion of the tax base, the attraction of investments, the elimination of double taxation on consumption tax and the fight against tax evasion and fraud.
The official mentioned that the General Tax Administration designed a VAT model suited to local conditions, “as simple as possible and modern enough to deal with the globalised economy.
Value Added Tax has already been implemented in about one hundred and sixty (160) countries, of which fifty four (54) are African countries. In the SADC region, Angola was the last member country to join.
Of the African countries with VAT implemented, Tunisia, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Cabo Verde, Tanzania, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia and others stand out.
All these countries have differentiated models and adapted to their economic reality, so to avoid constraints that may arise from its pure adoption, as occurs in developed countries.
Taxation is a system in which political, economic, financial, legal, administrative, psychological, community aspects are all interconnected.
This interdependence is even clearer in a reform process, being present from the outset in the definition of objectives with the implementation of VAT and in the intervention strategy that will define the tax system.
The 1st International VAT Conference took place within the framework of training activities by the General Tax Administration (AGT).
Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)