2. Category B

(a) Selection criteria:

Any company that undertakes to make investments of more than one (1) billion CFA francs and less than or equal to five (5) billion CFA francs over a period of no more than five (5) years and to meet at least one of the following criteria :

• Create at least one (1) job during the operating phase for every twenty (20) million invested in the industrial, tourism, craft, agricultural, livestock and fisheries, social housing, sports, health and education sectors;
• Generate an activity in which annual exports represent at least 25% of pre-tax turnover over the first five years of production in the above sectors of activity;
• Use national natural resources or local products to the extent of at least 25% of the value of inputs into the above sectors of activity, excluding labour, water, electricity and telecommunications;
• Generate a minimum 25% added value increase in the above sectors of activity.

(b) Benefits granted:

(i). Internal taxation:

• 50% reduction in corporate income tax or tax on industrial and commercial profits for five (5) years;
• 25% reduction in corporate income tax or tax on industrial and commercial profits from the sixth to the tenth year;
• Exemption from registration duty on loans, borrowings, current account advances and guarantees for five (5) years;
• free registration without stamp duty on deeds relating to the increase, reduction, repayment and liquidation of share capital for ten (10) years;
• 50% reduction in registration duty on deeds transferring rights on ownership or use of property and leases for five (5) years;
• 50% reduction in tax on income from movable capital (IRCM) on the distribution of income for five (5) years;
• 25% reduction in tax on income from movable capital (IRCM) on the distribution of income from the sixth to the tenth year;
• Deferral of losses until the fifth financial year following the year in which they arise, for a period of fiven (5) years.

(ii). Door-to-door taxation

• 5% reduced rate of customs duty on imports of equipment, tools, spare parts, intermediate products, supplies and consumables that have no similar local manufacture, except duties, taxes and other non-tax charges in the nature of remuneration for services.

3. Category C

a. Selection criteria

Any company that undertakes to make investments above one (5) billion francs over a maximum period of five (5) years and to meet one of the following criteria :

• Create at least one (1) job for every twenty (20) million invested during the operating phase in the industrial, tourism, craft, cultural, sports, health, education, energy, agricultural, livestock and fisheries, social housing and urban transport sectors;
• Generate an activity in which annual exports represent at least 20% of pre-tax turnover over the first five years of production in the above sectors of activity;
• Use at least 25% of national natural resources as inputs in the above sectors, excluding labour, water, electricity and telecommunications;
• Generate a minimum 25% added value increase in the above sectors of activity.

b. Benefits granted:

(i). About internal taxation:

• 75% reduction in corporate income tax or tax on industrial and commercial profits for five (5) years;
• 50% reduction in corporate income tax or tax on industrial and commercial profits from the sixth to the tenth year;
• exemption from registration duty on loans, borrowings, current account advances and guarantees for five (10) years;
• free registration without collection of the graduated stamp on deeds relating to the increase, reduction, redemption and liquidation of share capital for ten (10) years;
• 50% duty reduction on deeds transferring ownership or use of property and leases for five (5) years;
• 50% reduction in tax on income from movable capital (IRCM) on the distribution of income for five (5) years;
• 25% reduction in tax on income from movable capital (IRCM) on the distribution of income from the sixth to the tenth year;
• Deferral of deficits after five years, with effect from that of their occurrence 10 (ten) years.

(ii). Door-to-door taxation

5% reduced rate of customs duty on imports of equipment, tools, spare parts, intermediate products, supplies and consumables that have no similar local manufacture, with the exception of duties, taxes and other non-tax charges in the nature of remuneration for services.

2. Existing enterprises (those who have already invested and are in the operational phase)

Conditions : when the new investments aim to :

• Either an increase in the production of goods or services of at least 20% compared with production in the previous financial year;
• A minimum 20% increase in the number of Cameroonian staff employed prior to project implementation.

Advantages - For a period not exceeding five (5) years from the date of issue of the approval, companies benefit from :

1. Internal taxation :

• a reduction in corporate income tax or business profits tax based on 25% of the amount invested, up to a maximum of half the profit declared for the tax year in question.
• exemption from VAT on equipment and materials imported for use in the extension project.

2. Door-to-door taxation :

5% reduction in customs duties on imports of equipment relating to the expansion project

1. New and existing companies benefit

from an income tax credit for operations carried out in Cameroon, provided they meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Financing of sports, cultural or social infrastructure;
• financing of public interest activities in rural areas;
• recruitment of at least five (5) young higher education graduates per year;
• acquisition and installation on the investment site of specialized materials and equipment for the purification and treatment of solid, liquid or gaseous industrial waste designed to prevent the discharge into the environment of effluents, gases or other substances harmful to health.

2 The public-interest activities in rural areas referred to above include the construction or refurbishment of development infrastructure such as schools, health centres, markets, areas for social, cultural and sports activities for collective use, administrative infrastructure, roads, water points, and equipment for producing or transporting electricity for village electrification

3 However, companies whose activity, even if ancillary, consists of carrying out the above-mentioned operations, are not eligible for the abovementioned tax credit. The tax credit is equivalent to

• 25% of the tax corresponding to the amount of the investments made, for the financing of sports, cultural or social infrastructure and activities of public interest in rural areas or to combat pollution;

• the amount of employers’ contributions paid by the company during the financial year, for higher education graduates hired. In addition to the common incentives referred to above, companies eligible for one of the categories referred to in the common provisions which make investments in the following prioritynsectors benefit from specific tax and customs incentives;

  • The agriculture, fishing or livestock sectors;
  • The agro-industry sector;
  • The tourism, leisure and crafts sector;
  • The housing and social housing sector;
  • The manufacturing sector;
  • The heavy industry sector for the manufacture of building materials, as well as the iron and steel industry;
  • The pharmaceutical industry;
  • The energy and water sector.

How to benefit from the Provision of the Law No 2013/004 of 18 April 2013

Approval

Any investor who claims the incentives provided for by Law no. 2013/004 of 18 April 2013 is subject to the approval regime, as defined by the investment charter. To this end, the investor must submit an application to the one-stop shop set up by the body responsible for:

• SME promotion, for local SMEs; • investment promotion for other local and foreign investors.

The approval application file in accordance with Order No 004263/MINMIDT of 3 July 2014 comprises :

1. An application in three copies, the original of which is stamped at 25000 CFAF and indicating:

• in the case of an individual :

  their full name, filiation, residence, nationality and address;

  a certified copy of their national identity card or any other officially recognized identification document.

• in the case of a legal entity:

  its legal nature, name or business name, registered office and address, and the names, positions and nationalities of its main executives;

  a notarised copy of the enterprise’s statutes;

  a list of partners or shareholders specifying the percentage of shares held by each, as well as their nationality.

2. a certificate of registration of the enterprise in the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register or any equivalent document ;

3. for existing companies, in addition to the documents referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, they must provide the following documents

• a copy of the taxpayer’s card;
• a copy of the patent;
• the certificate of non-tax royalty

4. project feasibility study comprising

1. a description of activities;
2. a market study;
3. a technical study indicating
   1. the amount of investments;
   2. the list of equipment and materials to be imported;
   3. the raw materials to be used;
   4. the production process;
   5. the investment programme and the various phases of the project;
   6. the company organisation chart, jobs to be created by category and salaries;

4. An economic and financial study indicating:
   1. the projected operating account over five (5) years;
   2. the project’s profitability;
   3. the depreciation plan for fixed assets and any loans;
   4. the financing plan accompanied either by a financing agreement, a letter of intent or any other document in lieu thereof.

Unless the investor is notified that the application has been rejected, the one-stop shop has fifteen (15) days from the date the application is submitted to issue the approval. Investor interested in to take advantage of this incentives can contact: https://www.inves- tincameroon.net/language/en/. or www.apme.cm.

Business under the Industrial Free Zone Regime

The free zone or industrial free point regime is designed primarily for export businesses. The main advantages are as follows:

1. Exemption from all import taxes (except for passenger vehicles);
2. Exemption from all export customs duties and VAT at 0 rate.

Commercial advantages

• Exemption from all import and export licensing and quota restrictions
• No price or control over profit margins
• Possibility of selling part of annual production on the local market, subject to payment of all applicable taxes and customs duties: 20 %.

Tax breaks

• Total exemption from duties and taxes for a period of ten years
• 15% flat rate levied on profits from the eleventh year of operation, and total exemption from all other existing or future taxes and duties
• Losses incurred during the ten-year tax holiday can be carried forward.

Other advantages in financial transactions

• Right to open a foreign currency account (euros, pounds sterling, etc.)
• No restrictions on buying and selling foreign currency
• Right to transfer profits made and capital invested in Cameroon to foreign banks Commercial concessions
• Exemption of exports and imports from all current and future taxes and customs duties and from all others direct or indirect taxes, future registration fees, stamp duties and existing taxes;
• Exemption from the tax audit programme (SGS, VERITAS);
• Exemption from taxes on all products purchased on the domestic market;

Work concessions

• Salaries will be paid according to production capacity;
• Right to freely negotiate contracts between employers and employees;
• Right to automatically granting of work permits to foreign workers (may not exceed 20% of the company’s total workforce after five years of operation);
• Right to replace the National Social Insurance Fund (NSIF) with a private regime offering benefits equal to or greater than those of the Fund

Other advantages and concessions

• The right for companies to install their own electricity generators and telecommunications systems where necessary;
• Preferential rates on electricity and ports;
• Exemption from all rents, occupancy and price controls;
• Protection of all benefits relating to the general guarantees set out in the Investment Code and the right to take legal action before the Court of First Instance and the International Arbitration Association;

nvestors wishing to set up in a Free Zone or Industrial Free Point are invited to contact the ONZFI at the following address: Email: contact@onzfi.org or consult the website https://www.onzfi.org

Requirements to benefit from a suspensive customs procedure

The CEMAC Customs Code makes provision for economic incentive mechanisms known as suspensive customs procedures, designed to provide companies with the flexibility they need to better manage their international trade operations. Because of their derogatory nature from standard customs clearance rules, the use of these procedures is subject to authorization. Customs procedures with economic impact are granted by the Director General of Customs at the request of the company, which is required to justify the economic need to apply for the procedure chosen. File items for an application to be granted suspensive arrangement.

• Documents to be provided for an inward processing approval application

  1. Stamped application (model appended to Regulation No. 12/01-UDEAC-104 of 05 December 2001)
  2. Location map;
  3. A technical data sheet listing all the materials imported for inward processing;
  4. The company’s articles of association; 5. If applicable, the letter of authorisation for this system in the case of a renewal application.

• Documents required for an application for the shadow warehousing regime

  1. Application stamped at prevailing rate
  2. Site plan drawn up by a sworn land registry technician
  3. Duly registered lease or title deed
  4. Certificate from municipality stating cleanliness of premises
  5. List of goods to be stored, including tariff headings
  6. A layout plan of the warehouse
  7. Applicant’s identity document
  8. trade register
  9. Patent
  10. Taxpayer’s card
  11. Articles of association for legal entities
  12. 300 million bank guarantees

Documents required for an application for normal temporary admission

o First-time applications

1. Application stamped at prevailing rate
2. Title of Transports
3. Vehicle registration document
4. Headquarters agreement or document establishing a link between the beneficiary and the requesting organization
5. Visa from the Ministry of External Relations for diplomatic representations and similar bodies.

o For an extension request :

1. Statement or document granting initial temporary admission.
2. Proof of payment of the surface royalty for equipment used in mining or oil exploration and the mining or oil exploration permit.
3. Copy of the vehicle registration document for the vehicle being renewed.
4. Proof of payment of previous annual instalments for goods authorized under the ATS.