Gov't proposes cancelling VAT on rice from 2017

After reinstating in 2016 the customs duty of 5% on rice imports, which had been cancelled after the February 2008 hunger riots, the Cameroonian government is once again considering eliciting a drop in the prices of this mass consumption product, much sought after by local populations.

Indeed, in the 2017 Finance bill, which will be reviewed by Parliament in the coming days, the government proposes that rice be exempted from the payment of added value tax (VAT). If this proposal is approved by parliamentarians, the price per kilogram of rice on the Cameroonian market (FCfa 300) could drop by 19.25%, which is the equivalent of the VAT rate applicable in the country.

A small rice producer with about 100,000 tons on average per year, Cameroon is a big consumer of imported rice. For example, for 2015 only, the statistics of the National Payment Balance Technical Committee reveal that 707,200 tons of rice were imported in Cameroon, for a financial value of FCfa 181 billion.