EU extends deadline for Botswana tax greylisting
Friday, February 21, 2020
The EU, which is the world’s single richest market, says Botswana now has until August 31, 2020 to sign a tax cooperation deal, under which the country will commit to a wide range of commitments around information sharing, transparency and tackling tax evasion and avoidance.
Should Botswana fail to sign the deal by that date or get Parliament to ratify it by August 30, 2021, the country will be blacklisted and face the inevitable global backlash.The deal, known as the OECD Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance, provides for ‘all possible forms’ of administrative co-operation between states in the assessment and collection of taxes.
The recent disclosure by the IEC that 2,513 registrations have been turned down due to various irregularities should prompt all Batswana to meticulously review the voters' rolls and address concerns about rejected registrations.The disparities flagged by the IEC are troubling and emphasise the significance of rigorous voter registration processes.Out of the rejected registrations, 29 individuals were disqualified due to non-existent Omang...