Foreign Offices Transferring Tax Advisory Funds in Hard Currency Under Control

The government has programmed to study a proposal for a new draft law submitted by the Office of the National People’s Assembly, prepared by the Parliamentary Bloc of the National Democratic Rally, which includes granting four new powers to the tax advisor.

The new draft law aims to curb hard currency transfers abroad by imposing strict control on all the financial operations carried out by the foreign expertise offices that transfer tax advisory funds in hard currency.

According to a proposed bill submitted by the Parliamentary Group of the National Democratic Rally, which was approved by the Bureau of the National People’s Assembly and referred to the government for a decision, the new legislation enshrines the contribution of the tax advisor to the tax administration in preserving the state’s revenues and amends Ordinance No. 71-81 issued in 1971 that specified the conditions for exercising the profession of the tax advisor and his representative, as well as Article 155 of the Finance Law of 1996, which added Article 12 bis, that provides for the organization of tax advisors in a national class.

The proposal asserted that this article remained just ink on paper for 13 years of practising the profession, although it was included in the previous government’s program to rehabilitate the tax advisor’s profession, which remained without implementation, as this free profession is supposed to contribute to strengthening the relationship between the tax administration and merchants, eliminating tax evasion and removing all obstacles related to disputes between the taxpayer and the tax administration, in addition to addressing the illegal practice of the profession, especially about foreign offices that transfer tax advisory funds abroad in hard currency.

In presenting the reasons, the delegates of the proposed law explained that in light of the economic dynamism that Algeria is witnessing and the economic take-off that the country is experiencing in the coming years, which is supposed to be accompanied by the organization and structuring of the tax administration and the accompanying tax returns, this profession must be regulated in light of the recorded changes and simplification of the concept of taxation and making investors a real link between the taxpayer and the tax administration by keeping pace with the desired tax reforms.

In addition to the usual tasks of the tax advisor represented in assisting, providing advice and consultation, editing correspondence, preparing tax decisions, and carrying out all work of a tax nature on behalf of taxpayers, the new law grants new tasks to the tax advisor, similar to assisting taxpayers to prepare and subscribe to their tax returns of all kinds and editing responses to notifications sent by tax administrations, assisting taxpayers during tax control procedures and tax disputes, and collecting taxes, fees and rights.

The new tasks, according to the draft law, are also representing clients before the tax and judicial authorities as well as before public bodies concerning the collection and exercising the functions of a judicial expert in the collection, as the author of the proposal criticized the marginalization of the tax advisor’s profession, compared to neighbouring countries, whose budget depends on the regular collection and granting this group additional powers will enable an increase in the tax collection rate and the digitization of tax administration for the economic development.

It should be noted that previous accounting council reports revealed that tax evasion and poor tax collection over the past sixty years have contributed to raising uncollected tax accumulations to 13 thousand billion dinars, or nearly $100 billion.