The ordinance relating to the finance law for the year 2022, approved on July 17 by the Council of Ministers, proposes new measures affecting the digitalization sector in Algeria. These measures include setting a new deadline for merchants to equip themselves with electronic payment terminals (TPE) and the removal of the domestic consumption tax on certain computer equipment.

With regard to electronic payment, article 26 of the Supplementary Finance Bill (PLFC) for 2022 sets December 31, 2023 as the new deadline for merchants to equip themselves with TPE. The text stipulates that economic actors must comply with this provision before this deadline, noting that this obligation was introduced by article 111 of law no. 17-11 of December 27, 2017 on the finance law for 2018.

The initial one-year deadline, until December 31, 2018, was extended until December 31, 2021 by the provisions of article 146 of the finance law for 2021, and then until June 30, 2022 by article 168 of the finance law for 2022. The reason for this extension is explained by the need to carry out a large-scale operation, given the large number of merchants – more than one and a half million – likely to accept card payments. This approach involves significant costs and logistical challenges, given that each merchant can have multiple points of sale equipped with multiple cash registers.

In order to allow national production to meet the growing demand for TPE and to avoid the massive importation of this equipment, the compliance deadline was proposed to be extended until December 31, 2023.

Furthermore, the PLFC 2022 also proposes the removal of the domestic consumption tax on certain computer equipment. This measure aims to counter the rise in prices of these products, which could hamper the development of the digital sector in Algeria. The proposal stems from the difficulties encountered by digital economic actors in terms of domestic consumption tax, as defined by the finance law for 2018.

Article 32 of said law subjected specific computer equipment to this tax, leading to a price increase. This situation, deemed harmful to the development of the digital sector in Algeria, is likely to hinder the acquisition of computer equipment by the state and public entities, which are the main consumers of these products. Thus, the removal of this tax on certain computer equipment is presented as a measure aimed at promoting the digital sector, considered a priority for the revival of the national economy according to the government’s action plan.