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Tax Connect Flash | North Africa: Main tax provisions of the Algerian and Tunisian Finance Laws for 2012

05/04/2012

Algeria

Tax on corporate profits

  • The new tax consolidation rule no longer excludes companies making successive losses (article 138 bis(1) of the direct taxes code). The previous wording of article 138 bis automatically excluded companies from tax consolidation where they made losses in two consecutive years during membership of the tax group.

  • Abolition of tax on revenues remaining unallocated after three years and deemed to have been distributed. 

  • The 2012 Finance Law for inserts a new article 221 bis(2), under the heading "Chargeable Event", which assimilates the chargeable event for the purposes of business tax (TAP) with the one applicable to VAT.

Tax procedures

  • Introduction of a ruling procedure contained in the new article 174 bis of the Tax Procedures Code. 

  • Introduction of a pre-action procedure in the framework of audit accountancy, enabling taxpayers to seek arbitration on fact or law issues.

Tunisia

Income tax

  • Introduction of a withholding tax for capital gains on share transfers, applicable to non-resident persons who are not established in Tunisia. The tax rate is set at 10% for individual persons and 30% for legal entities.

  • Introduction of an advance on the tax credit related to the income tax or to the corporate tax profit, without prior verification. The aforementioned advance is 35% of the corporate tax credit amount, where the taxpayer is a legal person whose accounts are required to be legally audited, and 15% in other cases. 

  • To determine the taxable profit of credit establishments, the following items may be deducted: 
    prospective bank charges on current receivables and receivables requiring special attention; 
    general accounting provisions intended to cover risks attaching to current receivables and receivables requiring special attention, limited to 1% of the total value of such obligations as at 31 December 2011.

Tax procedures

  • Suspension of the extensive tax audit deadline , and the prescription limitation periods, from 17 December 2010 to 31 December 2012. 

  • Extension, to 30 June 2012, of the period for regularization of tax situations and rescheduling of unpaid amounts under the provisions relating to the 2006 tax amnesty.


1. 2012 Finance Law 
2. Part I, Chapter III, Subchapter 2 of the Direct Taxes Code ("Chargeable Event")


Contacts

Samir Sayah 
Director of Algiers Office 
CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre

Mourad Nabil Abdessemed 
Head of Tax Departement | Algiers Office 
CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre

Authors

Portrait ofMourad Nabil Abdessemed
Mourad Nabil Abdessemed
Paris