Togo : Housing tax will be fully reallocated to local communities

Public finance
Thursday, 25 July 2019 12:42
Togo : Housing tax will be fully reallocated to local communities

(Togo First) - Established since 1998, the housing tax which is about to be reintroduced has sparked some controversies over the past few weeks. As a result, the Togolese Revenue Office (OTR) organized a press conference last Tuesday to explain the relevance of the tax.

The housing tax, authorities thus indicated, is collected from all households with a residence and reallocated, in full, to local communities to use the proceeds to meet needs of grassroot populations.

The housing tax is managed by local authorities and will help new mayors develop their municipalities,” said the general commissioner of taxes, Adoyi Essowavana. “Depending on each person’s ability and the type of housing, it ranges between CFA2000 to CFA100,000,” the official added.

Some however are exempted from the tax. These include people less than 18 years old, retirees or more than 55 years old people, invalids, the needy, students and pupils, unemployed, diplomats, etc.  

OTR is the only collector of the tax,” emphasizes Philippe Kokou Tchodiè, general commissioner of the OTR. The tax can be paid at the cashier of competent tax offices in given regions. “In line with decentralization, local communities will need resources to handle themselves,” explains Tchodiè. Therefore, any citizen refusing to pay the tax risks losing access to civil State services.

Octave A. Bruce

To contact us: c o n t a c t [@] t o g o f i r s t . c o m

Please publish modules in offcanvas position.