In Cote d'Ivoire, the tax holiday granted to mining companies was repealed in 2018 (section 1 of Ordinance No. 2018-144 of 14 February 2018). The Mining Act granted holders of mining rights an exemption from corporate income tax and a minimum tax for the first five years following the date of first commercial production (section 169 of Act No. 2014-138 of 24 March 2014). Exceptionally, however, mining rights granted in 2018 benefited from a 75% tax abatement in the first year and 50% in the second year following the date of first commercial production (section 3 of Ordinance No. 2018-144 of 14 February 2018).
In Zimbabwe, gold mining royalty rates were amended by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 (No. 7 of 2019). For small-scale gold producers, the rate increases from 1% to 2%. For other gold producers, the rate was 5%, except in the case of an increase in annual production. Now the rate depends on the selling price of the ore. It is set at 3% when the selling price is below 1200$/oz and 5% when the selling price is above 1200$/oz.
Updated tax data for 2019 are now available for Cameroon, Chad and Ghana.
In Cameroon, the Finance Act 2019 did not change mining taxation (Act No. 2018/022 of 11 December 2018). Similarly, in Ghana, there were no changes to mining taxation in 2019. In Chad, the minimum tax was raised from 1 to 2 million CFA francs for large companies (Act No. 037/PR/2018 of 31 December 2018).
The minimum tax is a minimum for the collection of corporate income tax. In Chad, it is fixed at 1.5% of company turnover. However, this minimum tax is accompanied by a minimum amount for companies with low turnover. This amount was amended by the Finance Act, 2019 (section 11 of Act No. 037/PR/2018 of 31 December 2018). The floor amount of the minimum tax increases to 2 million CFA francs for large companies, while it remains at 1 million CFA francs for small companies.
Updated tax data for 2017 and 2018 are now available for South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
In South Africa, withholding tax on dividends has increased from 15% to 20% (Act No. 17 of 2017) and the VAT rate has been increased from 14% to 15% (Act No. 21 of 2018). In Tanzania, the Mining Act has been revised (Act No. 7 of 2017). Mining royalty rates have been increased. The free equity for the State is now set at 16%. The fixed fees and the surface fees were also amended (Government Notice No. 1 of 2018). In Zimbabwe, mining taxation has not changed (Act No. 2 of 2017 and Act No. 1 of 2018).