New Cote D’Ivoire law clarifies country-by-country reporting, requires greater tax transparency

By Moïse Gnakouri, PhD Researcher, Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium

A Côte d’Ivoire law clarifying country-by-country reporting for multinational groups and addressing tax evasion through international investment was published in the official gazette December 27, 2019, and is now set to enter into force this month.

We have seen the Ivorian government making steps towards compliance with international standards in the past. This new legislation fits into that context.

The new Côte d’Ivoire tax law gives some clarification regarding the Ivorian country-by-country reporting rules, which were established in the Ivorian tax system in 2018 and meet the recommendations of Action 13 of the anti-BEPS plan.

This reporting obligation – which in reality concerns only very few Ivorian companies due to the very high threshold of coverage – has given rise to various interpretations with regard to the fiscal year for which the reporting must be made.

The new law should dispel all doubts and close this debate by specifying that the fiscal year concerned by this reporting obligation is the fiscal year following the fiscal year during which the taxpayer had a consolidated turnover, excluding tax, of 491,967,750,000 CFA francs (approximately 749,196,286 euros).

A second provision concerns beneficial ownership registers. From 2020, legal entities must, before the start of their activities, declare their beneficial owners to the Ivorian tax authorities.

According to this financial law, a beneficial owner of a legal person is considered to be the natural person who, ultimately, holds a controlling interest in the legal person concerned or who, by any other means, actually exercises control over that legal person or, failing that, the one who manages that legal person.

A third provision concerns the declaration of trusts and similar legal constructions. As from now, any natural or legal person that manages or administers a trust or another similar legal construction must make a declaration of all these legal constructions located outside of Côte d’Ivoire, which are administered or managed by this person.

These declarations relate, in particular, to the existence of these legal constructions; their modifications or termination; their terms and conditions; and the identity of the settlor, protectors of all beneficiaries, and beneficial owners.

This declaration obligation occurs when the administrator, the manager, or one of the constituents or beneficiaries of a legal construction is a tax resident of Côte d’Ivoire.

By means of these new provisions which are integrated into the Ivorian tax law, the Ivorian government intends to increase tax transparency and fight against tax evasion.

In 2017, Côte d’Ivoire began a reform of its legal system to comply with international taxation standards. Apart from the Ivorian government’s desire to mobilize more fiscal resources, these reforms are also intended to modernize the country’s tax laws to face the challenges of a changing economic and financial environment.