Baltic Export, Estonia, Good for Business, Taxation, Technology

"The absence of an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation is at present considerably hindering Estonian companies entering the Botswana market. According to Botswana laws, a 15% tax is deducted from payments transfered by foreign countries outside of the country and that makes operating there expansive," CEO of Nortal Priit Alamae said in a letter sent to Dmitri Jegorov, deputy secretary general of the Finance Ministry, and Vaino Reinart, deputy secretary general of the Foreign Ministry.

Besides Nortal, some other Estonian information and communications technology companies have shown interest in operating in Botswana, therefore Nortal is asking the ministries to take steps in entering into a bilateral tax agreement with Botswana which would level the playing field for Estonian companies.

An official visit of Estonian ICT companies' business delegation to Botswana and Namibia, headed by Reinart, is to take place in the middle of September. According to Nortal, this would provide a good opportunity to hand over an official proposal to the Botswana government for launching talks to reach a bilateral tax agreement.

Nortal is building a new tax management system for the tax authority of Botswana for 8 mln euros, the aim of which is to increase tax inflow and reduce the administrative burden. The solution is to be completed in stages by the start of 2019. Botswana's first online tax system was also built by Nortal in 2014.