The law introduced in Cameroon in 2024 is set to bring in considerable revenue for decentralized local authorities (CTDs), including municipalities and regions, but may lead to losses for the state treasury.Promulgated by the President of the Republic on March 23, 2024, after its adoption by Parliament, the local taxation law establishes a flat-rate Synthetic General Tax (IGS). The Synthetic General Tax applies to businesses with an annual turnover of less than 50 million FCFA. According to the government, this tax, which replaces the liberatory tax and the simplified tax regime, is expected to generate an additional 50 billion FCFA per year for the benefit of decentralized local authorities (CTDs). The same legislation expands the application of 'additional municipal cents to excise duties, special income tax, and registration fees on public procurement. The government estimates that this will bring in approximately 43 billion FCFA in additional annual revenue for decentralized local authorities. Additionally, the law doubles the special excise duty rate for waste management from 0.5 to 1%, expected to generate 20 billion FCFA.According to Finance Minister Louis Paul Motazé, the new law would provide an additional 126.4 billion FCFA in funding for local authorities, complementing the 261 billion FCFA collected by the tax authority in 2023, which represented 7.3% of the state's own resources.Through the local taxation law, the government aims to increase the share of the state's own resources allocated to decentralized local authorities to at least 16%, in order to accelerate the financing of decentralization in Cameroon

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