The main changes introduced by the Finance Act for 2013, provided for by Act No. 27/2012 of 29 December 2012:
Personal income tax (IRPP) and corporate tax (IS)
- One-year extension of the deduction of export profits
- Extending the deadlines for using funds made available to mutual funds and SICARs
- Extending the scope of deducting provisions from the tax base
- Taking into account the deduction for disabled children pursuing higher education when calculating withholding tax
- Reinstating the tax advance on purchases by persons not subject to the actual taxation regime
- Simplifying the formalities for transferring income and profits abroad
- Extending withholding tax to non-commercial professions under the flat-rate regime
- Extending withholding tax on real estate capital gains to non-commercial professions under the flat-rate regime
- Including tax credits, losses and deferred depreciation in judgments handed down in tax matters
VAT, customs duties and local tax (TCL)
- Reducing the TCL on companies marketing products whose prices are subject to administrative control
- Extending the VAT suspension on maintenance operations in the air-transport sector
- Setting the list of agricultural and fishing services benefiting from VAT exemption
- Obligation to communicate the list of VAT-suspended purchases
- Obligation to communicate the list of VAT-suspended sales
- Extending the 50% VAT withholding to real estate and business assets
- Rationalising the basis for calculating consumption duty for companies linked to warehouse keepers and wholesalers of alcoholic beverages and wines
- Improving the collection of the tax on built properties
- Revising the amount of the customs fee for import services
- Rationalising the benefit of VAT suspension
Tax rights and procedures
- Registering, at the fixed duty, transfers of agricultural land intended for young farmers’ investments
- Revising stamp duties and the method of applying the fiscal stamp on certain administrative documents
- Revising the registration duties on company and economic-interest-grouping deeds
- Revising the registration regime for public contracts and tenders
Incentives
- Incentives to create SMEs
- Extending the tax amnesty provided for by the 2012 supplementary Finance Act to partnerships and similar entities
- Granting tax advantages under the specific social-housing programme
- Strengthening the tax privileges granted to Tunisians living abroad for projects they carry out in Tunisia
Tax procedures
- Clarifications on the taxpayer’s tax obligations
- Strengthening the mechanisms for combating tax evasion
- Introducing the principle of no preliminary audit during another preliminary audit or during an in-depth audit
- New rules that may lead to the rejection of accounts during an in-depth audit
- Clarifying the address used for notifications and requests from the tax authority
- Extending the obligation to file and pay tax online to certain activities
Miscellaneous measures
- Creation of a cooperation fund between local authorities
- Exempting the end-of-service gratuity from the TFP and FOPROLOS
- Rationalising the minimum tax-collection amount
- Strengthening the resources of the general compensation fund
- New resources for the tourism competitiveness development fund
- Revising the rates of the tax on real estate capital gains
