Cameroon, Republic of

Taxable period

The PIT year-end date is 31 December.

Tax returns

The PIT return shall be declared/filed by the 15th day of the month following the payment of wages/salaries. A regularisation shall be declared by 15 March following the fiscal year-end, when filing the Annual Tax Return.

The tax administration may send a pre-completed return of collected revenue or any other taxable item, with the tax amount owed, to any natural or legal person paying taxes or duties as per laws and regulations in force.

From 1 January 2025, the deadline for the annual recapitulative declaration of income from salaries, wages, pensions, life annuities and/or income from transferable securities and income from real estate and, in general, all passive income has been fixed:

• at the latest by 31 July each year for senior citizens (the list of whom is set out in a special text issued by the Minister of Finance) and employees in the public and semi-public sectors.
• no later than 30 September each year for employees of private sector taxpayers covered by the unit for large taxpayers, the tax centres for medium-sized enterprises and the specialised tax centres.
• by 31 October each year for other individual taxpayers.

In order to enable individual taxpayers to comply with this obligation, any person who pays income subject to personal income tax must submit to the tax authorities, by 15 March each year at the latest, a detailed summary statement of all income and remuneration paid during the previous calendar year, together with details of the deductions made at source on these amounts.

The annual summary income tax return can be subscribed online using a form provided by the tax authorities.

Payment of tax

The taxes payable by the employee shall be withheld at source by the employer, who is responsible for payment to the tax authorities.

PIT shall be paid by the 15th day of the month following the payment of wages/salaries. A regularisation of payroll taxes (including PIT) shall be declared and paid when filing the Annual Tax Return by:

• 15 March for taxpayers under the Large Taxpayers' Unit.
• 15 April for taxpayers reporting to Medium-sized Tax Centres and Specialized Tax Centres.
• 15 May for taxpayers under Divisional Tax Centres.

If the annual recapitulative tax return shows a balance of PIT to be adjusted, the individual taxpayer must pay the balance of tax within the same time limit as that for filing the recapitulative tax return. The balance can be paid electronically by mobile phone, by bank transfer, by telepayment or in cash at a bank counter.

Annual recapitulative tax returns that show an overpayment will be refunded or set off against future tax, at the taxpayer's request, after validation by the competent services.

Tax audit process

Taxpayers naturally owe the duty of paying taxes put at their charge by the tax regulation in force. Failure to comply with legal requirements relating thereto may give rise to control process exercised by the authorised tax agents. In fact, not all tax agents can exercise whatever tax control. Specific conditions govern such controls.

Statute of limitations

Taxpayers are bound to produce, at the request of the tax authorities, all mandatory accounting documents and records backed, where necessary, by the accounting items applicable to the nature of the taxpayers’ activities.

Taxpayers are bound to keep these documents for a period of ten years.