Angola: Revisions to VAT law, including taxation of e-commerce transactions

Law No. 14/23, which revises the value added tax (VAT) law, was enacted on 28 December 2023. The revisions specify that sales of goods in Angola are taxable when the buyer has its headquarters, residence, or permanent establishment in Angola, or when the payment occurs within the national territory (that is, facilitated by a locally established financial institution), regardless of where the goods are shipped from (either within Angola or from abroad).

Therefore, if a nonresident entity sells goods domestically or from abroad to a purchaser with its headquarters, residence, or permanent establishment in Angola, or when the payment occurs within the national territory, the sale would be considered as located in Angola, and the VAT taxation rules would apply.

The current wording of the law suggests that such obligation would apply to both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) sales. However, the law does not impose any specific compliance obligation on electronic platforms facilitating the sale of goods, nor does it clarify the interplay of the VAT rules with the import rules, as VAT is typically assessed during the customs clearance process.

Given the broad nature of these rules, it is anticipated that the Angolan tax authorities will issue additional implementing rules, especially concerning the establishment of a simplified registration mechanism for nonresident companies conducting electronic commerce (e-commerce) sales in Angola.

Other revisions in Law No. 14/23 include:

•  Charging VAT on gambling—the taxable value must equate to the amount paid for access or participation in the game, excluding the prize
• Raising the VAT credit threshold for requesting a refund to AOA 700,000, provided the taxpayer has maintained a VAT credit position for more than three months
• Excluding transactions between the National Bank of Angola, commercial banks, insurance and reinsurance companies, and telecommunications operators with a unified global title from the VAT withholding mechanism
• Allowing VAT deductions within 12 months after issuing the invoice or receiving payment for import tax
• Imposing a fine of AOA 600,000 for each violation in the event of failure or delay in submitting a periodic declaration
  • The fine doubles every three months if the missing VAT return is not submitted.
• Requiring banks to electronically submit a quarterly file summarizing operations conducted at automatic payment terminals (APT)
• Granting taxpayers under the simplified VAT regime the right to deduct only 10% of the total tax, with the remaining 90% being deductible under the income tax regime
• Requiring taxpayers under the simplified VAT regime to submit monthly simplified declarations electronically with annexes containing information on operations conducted in the previous month

While the revisions to the VAT law took effect on 28 December 2023, the tax authorities may consider their effective date as 1 January 2024.

For more information, contact a KPMG tax professional:

Philippe Stephanny | philippestephanny@kpmg.com

Inês Pereira |inespereira@kpmg.com

João Palma | jpalma@kpmg.com