Cameroon Extends Income Tax Deadline Amid Technical Glitches, Offers Last-Minute Amnesty
In a surprise move, Cameroon’s Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, announced a postponement of the personal income tax filing deadline. The initial deadline of December 1st has been pushed back to December 2nd, with a grace period for filings extending until December 9th. This extension comes as Cameroon’s online tax verification platform struggled to cope with a deluge of last-minute filers.
"Recently, the online personal income tax verification platform encountered an overload, due to several tens of thousands of simultaneous logins," explained Motaze. The technical difficulties forced delays for many taxpayers trying to meet the original deadline.
“Faced with this situation, the tax administration immediately strengthened the technical capabilities of the platform to better include the connection level," Motaze added. As an alternative, the government also urged citizens to utilize the Harmony Fiscalis platform.
Technicians from the Ministry of Finance are working tirelessly to address the platform issues and provide support to taxpayers facing difficulties.
This isn’t the first time Cameroon has extended the personal income tax deadline. Due to systemic challenges, the original due date of June 30th was initially pushed back to September 30th, before the latest extension to December 1st.
The government has stressed the importance of timely tax declarations, highlighting the consequences of non-compliance: "… impossible to get the registration certificate, impossible to generate the tax compliance certificate, impossible to get the visa, impossible to open bank accounts, as well as contracts for the supply of water, electricity and telephones," warned the General Directorate of Taxes.
The impact of this extension reaches beyond Cameroon’s borders, as citizens may face complications with international travel and financial transactions if their tax obligations are not met.
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