TAX ADVISORY

Our Tax Advisory services comprises a variety of tailor-made support toeither new investors in Mozambique and already established companies, in order to assure a complete knowledge of the tax regulations and the tax efficiency of the operations.

Investment structure optimization we have the necessary expertise on national and international tax and the necessary experience to provide you advice on the more efficient structure to invest in Mozambique. The correct definition of the holding company location, considering the current investor’s corporate structure and the income flows that are expected to arise from the local business plan.

Detailed investment tax guides for specific business areas

 The language and cultural barriers, the complexity of the Mozambican tax legislation and some informally established tax procedures, are some of the obstacles that foreign investors face in the process of getting to know the local tax practice. We can assist on the preparation of tailor-made tax guides, concerning a specific business activity, containing the summary of the relevant tax legislation, compliance obligations and the main insights regarding its application.

Support on transactions with non- resident entities

Usually transactions with non-resident entities gives rise to withholding tax implications in Mozambique, that may be reduced or avoided based on the Double Tax Agreements celebrated by Mozambique. Frequently, the superficial knowledge of the application of those dispositions and the unclear formalities to be considered results on unduly tax expenses with withholding tax, with a direct impact on the profit margin, or even prevent the liquidation, within a reasonable timeframe, of the pending payments to non-resident suppliers triggering major operational constraints.

Our experience with those transactions and deep knowledge of the formal and informal procedures applied by the local tax authority gives us the necessary tools to lead you through the process and achieve a more efficient tax solution within the Mozambique tax legislation.

Assistance on disputes and litigation with tax authority

Tax decisions are under scrutiny like never before. The Mozambican tax authority is increasingly active on its tax audit procedures, covering small companies and larger corporations as well, in order to assure the proper compliance with local tax regulations. The main issues usually identified are related to inconsistent tax reporting information, procedures adopted by international corporations that do not fit the local requirements and incorrect interpretation of the tax legislation.

We support our clients preventing corrections through a proper compliancewith local tax regulations but, under the taxpayers’ right of contradictory argument, we also assist on the arguments and supporting information to be used as defence whenever there is a divergence between the taxpayer and the tax authority’s point of view.

Support on binding opinion and clarification requests

The compliance within the tax procedures often entails an interpretation of the applicable tax law towards a specific situation, which may give rise to uncertainty and, on a subsequent stage, to litigation procedures. In this line of thought, whenever a situation is liable to interpretation and may have a relevant impact on your operations, we suggest and assist on its formal clarification within the tax authority. Our experience tells us that meeting the tax authority in order to explain and present the matter under discussion often prevents misunderstandings and misleads on the opinion issued.

Tax Due Diligence & Tax Health Check

When the investment performed in Mozambique is done through acquisition of an existing business, it is crucial to anticipate its tax exposures with a potential impact to the new business owner. This Tax Due Diligence analysis is performed taking into consideration a specific transaction and may include the current tax exposures and the acquisition structure analysis as well.To already established business, a review of the compliancewith local tax requirements may be achieved through a Tax Health Check analysis,with the purpose of identifying risks and to propose future corrective measures, reducing the tax expose and improving the tax efficiency.

Global Mobility Services (GMS)

The employment of expatriate employees increases the complexity of the payroll and tax compliance benefits, income that is obtained in procedures, due to the residency status definition, the remuneration package including a variety of fringe Mozambique and abroad, among other matters.

We have the necessary expertise, by participating on several GMS international assignments, regarding all the tax assistance to expatriate employees, namely payroll, arrival and departure meetings, preparation of tax returns, equalization calculations, and advisory support on any ongoing queries.

Tax assistance on an ongoing basis

We aim to be our clients’ partners on their business in Mozambique.This involves a close professional relationship in which we are available to support your queries whenever they arise, by phone, e-mail or in person, and we will be there whenever you need a tax expert to lead you throughthe complexity of the localtax requirements, regarding Corporate Income Tax (CIT), Value Added Tax (VAT), Personal IncomeTax (PIT), SocialSecurity contributions, specific taxes for mining and oil & gas activities, Customs Duties, Excise Duties, among others.

Learn more about Tax.