Business tax

Firms that pay their tax in a lump sum will receive a 10% tax credit.

1. There will be as much as 20% discount on taxable income for companies donating to the COVID-19 response.

2. Landlords will be exempted from taxes payable for one tax year.

3. Companies in loss positions during this period should be permitted to carry forward incurred losses for more than two financial years.

4. Employers would be exempted from paying personal income tax withheld from employee salaries for four months. This applies to employers who continue paying employee salaries despite not being able to operate due to COVID-19.

VAT

The Ministry of Revenues will speed up VAT refunds to support taxpayers with cash flows.

(Updated: May 2022)

PIT:

Exemption from personal income tax withholding for 4 months for firms who keep paying employee salaries despite not being able to operate due to Covid-19.(April 30, 2020)

Other:

(1) Tax amnesty on interest and penalties for tax debt pertaining to 2015/2016-2018/2019.(April 30, 2020)

(2) Removal of taxes from the import of raw materials for the production of Covid-19 essential goods.(June 25, 2020)

(3) Operational facilitation of logistics in export and import process (such as free railway transport of manufacturing goods between Ethiopia and Djibouti).(June 25, 2020)

(4) Lifting of the minimum price set by the NBE for horticulture exports.(June 25, 2020)

For the fiscal year 2020/21, the authorities plan to allocate about 30 bn birr (or $0.8 bn) for COVID-19 related spending, including buying medical equipment; additional payment for health workers; food assistance for quarantines and isolation areas; procurement of hygiene facilities, disinfectants, and personal protection equipment.

(Updated: August 2020)