One hundred and seventy-four companies out of the 547 in the Large Taxpayers list drawn up by the General Tax Administration (AGT) of Angola no longer had the minimum requirements and were therefore removed, according to an executive order from the Ministry of Finance.

The new list of Large Taxpayers, published in the Diário da República bulletin on 14 July, consists of 373 companies, namely large public companies, banking institutions, insurance and reinsurance companies and pension fund management companies.

Also included in the new list are companies providing and operating payment systems, microcredit, oil companies and diamond mining companies whose turnover is equal to or greater than 5 billion kwanzas, telecommunications operators as well as those operating as a monopoly.

The order quoted by Angolan state news agency Angop also includes an Annex II, which contains a list of Large Taxpayers composed of 20 national and international airlines, which are now accompanied by the Large Taxpayers’ Office, even though they not in this category.

In the order, the Ministry of Finance justifies the need to grant an increasingly differentiated and specialised treatment to Large Taxpayers, as well as to adjust the number of Large Taxpayers to AGT’s current responsiveness, ensuring a more efficient, dynamic and cooperative.

On 13 March, the Ministry of Finance announced that the General Tax Administration (AGT) was evaluating the 547 companies in the group of large taxpayers, in order to maintain or lower them if they did not meet the minimum requirements.

The head of the Large Taxpayers’ Office, Cláudio Paulino dos Santos, was quoted in the statement saying that the 547 companies accounted for 85% of the total revenues collected by the General Tax Administration and added that only 87% of these companies met their fiscal obligations.

Angolan weekly Expansão reported that companies such as Banco de Investimento Rural, Grupo Chicoil – Comércio e Agro-Pecuária, Maersk Drilling HBA, Soares da Costa Imobiliária and Soares da Costa – Sociedade de Construção had been removed from the list. (macauhub)