ADMINISTRATION OF TAX SYSTEM FOR FORESTRY

From whatever angle this subject is approached (woodfuel or industrial roundwood), tax is determined by the State.

For woodfuel, the conditions for setting tax are defined in Decree No 92-037, the Forestry Code as well as the laws that implement this. The rate of tax on transport and commercialisation is calculated depending on the price of the stacked cubic metre of wood and differentiated according to the origin of the wood and how it has been harvested. The rates of tax and proportional rates of allowance are revised, if need be, in the same way as these taxes are determined. The revision takes into account general consumer price inflation within the country, the changes in price of other domestic fuels and other possible exceptional economic, social and environmental circumstances. This revision takes place with dialogue between the different partners involved in the woodfuel business, namely the Association of Wood Harvesters (l’Association Niger des Exploitants de Bois or ANEB), the rural wood markets and the Forest Service.

The setting and revision of taxes on woodfuel are done either by a decree passed by the government cabinet or by an order from the minister responsible for forests. This is the case of Decree No 96-390 of 22 October 1996 and of Order No 39/MHE/DE of 15 August 1997 determining the total tax on the transport and commercialisation of woodfuel applicable to different means of transport. According to the conditions just listed, it is planned to revise this tax annually in conformity with the implementation clauses of the Domestic Energy Strategy to make woodfuel more expensive compared with other substitute products. All tax revisions are published in the Republic’s Official Journal and, when Energy Project II comes into operation, they will be published in the System of Information and Permanent Evaluation (SIPE) publication, called "Indicator" for widespread distribution.

Import and export duties on wood products are fixed as a percentage of product value according to agreements between member countries of ECOWAS and published in a document entitled "Customs Tariffs in Niger". The tax system on wood products is set out in chapters 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49 of the document.

The inspection, collection and follow-up of tax payment is done by Water and Forest Service personnel for taxes on wood production in rural wood markets and on the uncontrolled harvesting in State Protected Forests. The payment of tax on wood is carried out in the following way:

In the case of uncontrolled harvesting, tax is paid before loading the wood at the forest post chosen by the haulier. This is calculated on the basis of the quantity of wood determined by the means of transport as stated by the law (Decree No 96-390 of 22 October 1996 and Order Number 39/MHE/DE of 15 August 1997). Forest Service personnel issue a red coupon on departure.

In the case of controlled harvesting, tax is paid at the time of purchasing the wood, in one single operation, at the level of the Local Management Structure. A blue coupon is issued by the LMS when woodfuel is purchased.

In the case of guided harvesting, tax is paid at the time of purchasing the wood, in one single operation, at the level of the Local Management Structure. A yellow coupon is issued by the LMS when woodfuel is purchased.

For controlled and guided harvesting, the Local Management Structures have therefore the responsibility of collection and payment to the administration responsible for forestry tax, with a receipt. A counterfoil receipt book is kept for this purpose and presented to the fiscal administration when the part of revenue due to the public revenue department and territorial communities is paid.

Private registered forests, which are not subject to tax payment, issue a green coupon when woodfuel is purchased.

The coupons are used as a transport permit for a duration of 24 hours for vans and 48 hours for lorries. They must be presented at all control posts and are valid for a single journey.

Customs services have the task of inspecting and collecting tax on the import and export of products derived from wood. Tax is always paid after the product is loaded up at the customs post closest to the port of entry or exit.

The implementation of the forest tax system is carried out by decentralised staff of the Department of Water and Forests together with staff from the Customs Service. Monitoring of staff is carried out by the central administration. For both the Customs Service and the Water and Forest Service personnel, computers are available for the input and follow-up of statistics concerning forest revenue and commercialised wood revenue. It should be noted that the setting up of a good system of registering and monitoring of these statistics at the different points of entry and exit is a fundamental tool for increasing tax revenue.

Central administration

For the technical and financial follow-up of the tax system, the central administration is made up of the Department for the Environment (DE) and the Department for Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture (DWFA), respectively holding authorisation for Accounts 3001 and 3002. Under these departments, there is the Territorial Brigade for the Protection of Nature (TBPN), a service spanning the two departments whose main tasks are the:

comparison of information on coupons collected at the entrances to towns, in district authority areas and at the rural wood markets;

impromptu inspection operations;

issuing and distribution of coupon books and the payment sheets used by decentralised services between the different authorities and the rural wood markets;

development and distribution of work tools for decentralised services;

centralisation and statistical use of data registered by forest authorities (harvesting revenue, sales by mutual agreement, transactions etc.); and

overseeing Account 3001.

For a better follow-up of fiscal policies and due to the fact that there is a taxation differential between the different types of harvesting, sellers/hauliers should be checked to ensure that they pay the correct taxes that correspond to the place where the wood was purchased. In addition, because there is the decentralisation of forestry harvesting, tax collection and the issuing of transport permits in the villages, villages should be checked to assure that they are collecting these taxes and paying the state correctly.

The Division of Inspections and Accounts (DIA) is under the authority of the TBPN and audits several key functions in the collection of forestry tax:

the payment of 75% of revenue from transactions and sales by mutual agreement;

the centralisation of all states of tax payments from departments and the drafting of the three-monthly statement of accounts for the Ministry for the Environment;

the follow-up of tax revenue in general and expenditure on Accounts 3001 and 3002;

the preparation of expenditure - for the TBPN it thus establishes orders for payment or transfer of accounts, has them signed by managers, brings them to the public revenue department and follows them up until the receipt of funds, these funds then being allocated to where they were requested; and

finally, the monitoring and internal audit of the forwarding of taxes.

Department management offices

The Department management offices assure the co-ordination of all the activities of the District Environmental Services (DES) of the departmental area. It liases between the central level (TBPE/DE/FPPD) and the district services in the presenting of coupon books, the follow-up and payment sheets, the monitoring of wood experts to check transport coupons (duration of validity, volume of wood transported, origin of wood. etc.) and to remove them, and the checking of professional cards. It is also through their intermediary, notably the director of the department management offices, that payment sheets are centralised and passed on, completed by the DES and the TBPN. However forestry taxes do not pass through the department management offices and are paid to local authorities that then send them to the public revenue department.

District services, forest posts and control posts

These are decentralised services that have the same basic responsibilities as the department management offices. In the allocation of district services, there are the tasks of issuing of coupon tax books to the rural markets of the area, the receipt of tax collected by rural markets, the issuing of coupons for the harvesting of uncontrolled areas, the seizure of illegally transported wood and the payment of all tax collected to the community for the collector of the sub-prefecture. Before payment, the District Environmental Services centralise all payment sheets from forest posts, the statements of coupon issuing, and revenue of all kinds. After payment, they receive receipts from the sub-prefecture and a copy of signed statements of payment.

Forest posts have also the same responsibilities but for a part of the district and always under the authority of the District Environmental Services. Control posts are posts placed on important main roads for wood transport approaching big towns. They have the essential task of monitoring the operations of the forestry network.

Generally speaking, the decentralised services have the responsibility for:

In undeveloped areas:

leading hauliers/harvesters towards zones for harvesting;

the authorisation to harvest by issuing transport coupons;

checking of conditions of transport (duration of validity and especially the conditions for loading up the particular means of transport); and

the issuing of preliminary authorisation to private individuals.

In developed areas:

the agreement of rural markets and the approval of quotas;

checking of harvesting conditions set by villagers, notably to make sure that technical criteria are respected (development plans);

checking the handling of accounts and fiscal documents by the rural markets; and

checking the woodcutters’ permits.

In all wood producing areas, there is a monthly dispatch of tax revenue collection sheets to the TBPN for data centralisation, the updating of different accounts (i.e. Account 3001) and comparison with data from the public revenue department.

Communities and Local Management Structures

Apart from the services provided by the state administration, rural structures and communities also take part, under the new policies, in the inspection and collection of forestry taxes.

Thus, local authorities are the driving force for revenue returning to the state’s public revenue department following payment from the Local Management Structures. These structures, as outlined previously, collect tax when wood products are purchased. They make payments from the forestry worker at the closest post who passes these on, in turn, to the local authority manager. Locally, village structures assure the police in what concerns them for tax collection in their area. Their contribution to tax monitoring and inspection would seem thus to be significant.