Africa-Press – Eswatini. The reduced Corporate Tax from 27.5 per cent to 25 per cent makes Eswatini’s corporate tax equals that of at least four other African countries.
The reduction of the Corporate Tax was incorporated in, the Income Tax (Amendments Bill, 2022), which was passed in Parliament in the last sitting of the outgoing Members of Parliament (MPs). The countries that had its Corporate Tax fixed at 25 per cent are Lesotho, Ghana, Angola and Mauritania as per the latest data provided by the Trading Economics.
Unchanged
Corporate Tax rate in United States remained unchanged at 21 per cent in 2023. When justifying the calls to reduce the Corporate Tax, the Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg told the Parliamentarians that there was a global pressure with regard to Corporate Tax. Rijkenberg stated that some countries have reduced it to as low as 15 per cent. It is worth noting that during the public contributions towards the Income Tax Bill, Business Eswatini (BE), SNG Grant Thornton and Businessman Walter Bennett made contributions. BE fully supported the reduction of the corporate taxes as they suggested that this would encourage investment. “A further reduction to say 20 per cent or less would make Eswatini an investment haven,” said BE. BE stood against the increase in taxation rate for the middle income class as the proposal was to increase from 33 per cent to 36 per cent.
Complaints
Meanwhile, Bennett informed the parliamentarians that there have been no complaints from the businesspeople about the Corporate Tax, hence he was not in support of the reduction.
SNG Grant Thornton also welcomed the reduction of the Corporate Tax and suggested a further reduction of up to 20 per cent over a three-year period. It is worth noting that in Africa, Somalia had the lowest Corporate Tax of 12.3 per cent, while Mauritius and Tunisia’s Corporate Tax stood at 15 per cent, while Botswana’s Corporate Tax was 22 per cent and Egypt was 22.5 per cent. Zimbabwe’s Corporate Tax stood at 24.72 per cent. African countries with the highest Corporate Tax included Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan and Chad where it is 35 per cent while in Mozambique stands at 32 per cent.
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