Towards a Cashless & Paperless Tax Sector:

DGI Explains Dematerialization & Digitalization

Officials of the Directorate General of Taxation, DGI, used the occasion of the Promote that ended last week to edify the public on innovative and modern taxation procedures that seek to discourage the use of cash and papers, while encouraging online transactions

By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Yaounde

Taxation DG, Modeste Mopa Fatoing, presided over the seminar/workshop

The Directorate General of Taxation is determined more than ever before to put an end to taxation procedures that go by cash and paper work (dematerialization), while at the same time encouraging the use of on-line procedures (digitalization). This was the subject of the information and sensitization offensive that the DGI embarked upon during the 10-day international trade fair for small and medium-size businesses, Promote, that ended on Sunday 24 February in Yaounde.

                In the course of the ten days, officials of the DGI set aside Thursday 21 February to bring taxpayers and other stakeholders together and explain to them the new policy of digitalization and dematerialization. This was during a one-day seminar/workshop they organized in one of the conference halls of the Yaounde Conference Center.

                Presided over by the Director General of Taxation, ModesteMopaFatoing, and with University don, Prof. Biwole acting as moderator, the head of the division of information technologies, Kinyuy John, schooled participants on the stakes and challenges of the new policy of dematerialization. And this was not before the DG of taxation had opened the seminar with a cursory but brief lecture on the stakes, challenges and prospects of the Taxation sector in Cameroon.

Business operators taking down notes at the seminar

                Guided by the theme: “Dematerialization of Tax Procedures: the DGI Experience,” the resource person of the day, Kinyuy John, noted that despite generating over 2.200 billion to finance the state budget in 2018 that is, 1923.5 billion in non-petroleum revenue and 82.5 billion in petroleum revenue, the taxation department still has the challenge of increasing its revenue generation this, because the government is faced with the ever-increasing task of providing the citizenry with essential needs such as infrastructure, health, security and education among others.

                It is with this in mind that the DGI has opted for the digitalization and dematerialization of procedures as a means towards optimizing tax returns, while at the same time not discouraging business initiative of taxpayers, Kinyuy explained, noting that the new dematerialization policy is one of the recommendations of the 2019 Doing Business Report, which emphasizes the amelioration of taxation procedures.

                By dematerialization the DGI unlike in the past, seeks to encourage taxpayers to declare and pay their taxes using their mobile phones, extend the dematerialization of fiscal stamps to all regional, divisional and sub-divisional headquarters, encourage electronic transmission of tax receipts (quittance) after tax payments, dematerialize payment of auto-mobile and airport taxes and of course, suppress the issuance of the patente (business license).

                All these are with the view to digitalizing essential public services towards creating a cashless and paperless society, concluded Kinyuy.

                The seminar provided occasion for taxpayers to ask questions and express their worries and/or challenges they face in using the new digitalized procedures. All the worries were simplified and clarified by the taxation experts present at the seminar.