By Tabora Bojang
Expatriates from non-Ecowas countries working in The Gambia will see their payroll taxes doubled. According to the 2027 budget estimates tabled by Finance Minister Seedy Keïta before lawmakers on Friday, the government intends to raise the payroll tax rates applicable to non-Ecowas expatriates from D100,000 to D200,000, while the rate for Ecowas citizens will increase from D30,000 to D50,000.
According to the government, the increase is designed to improve employment opportunities for Gambians. It comes in the wake of a directive issued by the Central Bank of The Gambia last week ordering commercial banks to replace non-Gambian employees who are not covered by approved expatriate quotas. The CBG said the decision followed an industry-wide review which found a relatively high number of non-Gambians working in banks in additions to those formally recognised as expatriates, adding that the practice is inconsistent with the Labour Act 2023 and guidelines governing expatriate employment in the country.
Under the Gambian policy, investors and businessmen and women are prohibited to hire and bring into the country persons to handle position or jobs in their businesses for which qualified Gambians are available to handle or perform. The purpose it maintained is to deter so-called experts from occupying a position that Gambians can occupy in order to create employment opportunities for Gambian youths.
Meanwhile, the 2027 budget also proposes to introduce new tax measures to increase the government local revenue base. This include the introduction of an excise duty on selected single use plastic products which is projected to generate D9.22 million and introduction of excise duty levied on imported used tyres which is estimated to generate about D43.32 million in 2027.
The government also intends to introduce specific import duties on scrap metals, a measure it says is expected to generate D133.63 million in 2027.
However, the rate tax from betting, lottery, gaming and gambling will be reduced from from 50 per cent to 40 per cent while rental income tax rate will be reduced from 15 per cent to 13 per cent aimed at improving compliance and encouraging greater formalisation of rental income activities.