Did you know that taxpayers in Cameroon are obliged to preserve tax documents for a period of time before they can be disregarded for any tax control or investigation? There are many small businesses out there that don’t have an archive for accounting and tax documents. Immediately they file in their tax returns, they believe it’s done for the year.

What you need to know

In case the tax authorities discover any anomaly with your taxes, they have the right to control or investigate your past tax-related and accounting documents. In such a situation, the taxpayer is obliged to present to the tax administration upon request all mandatory records and supplementary records, accounting documents and if necessary the specific accounting items that are applicable to the activity undertaken. This is in order to show proof of genuineness in the elements the entity or individual has filed in their returns.

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The obligation to preserve tax documents in Cameroon

In Cameroon, the taxpayer is obliged to keep all the accounting documents, books and registers that can be requested for control or investigation by the tax authority in whatever form for a period of 10 (ten) years. The bases for determining the period are

=> the date when the last operation was recorded or

=> the date when the documents were drawn up

Tax documents in Cameroon to be preserved

The tax law in Cameroon provides for some specific documents that the tax payer is obliged to produce at the request of the tax authorities. The documents include:

• Stocks and shares transfer registers

• Attendance sheets

• Meeting minutes of shareholders

• Minutes of board meetings

• Management report that has been approved by the shareholders or partners

• Auditors reports and

• Regulated agreements where applicable

Other bodies involved

The conditions to preserve tax and accounting-related documents for a minimum of ten years in Cameroon also applies to the following

1. Managers and beneficiaries of trust

2. Insurance trusts or similar entities

3. Foreign taxpayers operating in Cameroon without a head office. They have to appoint a solvent representative accredited by the tax authority.

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