PwC and the World Bank Group have released a joint report that compares tax regimes across 189 economies, ranking them according to relative ease of paying taxes.

On average, Africa has a total tax rate of nearly 50%. However, it can take around 313 hours to sort out tax issues and, on average, more than 35 payments need to be made – the highest number in the world.

Globally, Mauritius ranked 13, South Africa 20 and Mauritania 187 (within Africa, they ranked first, second and last, respectively). When comparing Africa to the rest of the world, global averages show 261 hours to comply with 25.6 payments and a total tax rate of 40.8%.

What’s more, in Nigeria it takes a massive 908 hours and more than one month to comply with the country’s tax regulations, according to a Mail & Guardian Africa report.

Introducing new taxes can make the process more complicated and lengthy, says Taiwo Oyedele, head of tax and corporate advisory services at PwC Nigeria, adding that many governments on the continent still don’t have a clear policy around taxation.

19 January 2016
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