Algeria's General Directorate of Taxes and the Ministry of Finance have launched a 'Tax Settlement Week' to explain new measures for canceling and clearing tax debts and facilitating tax settlement. This initiative, designed to provide full guidance and support to businesses, is being implemented under direct instructions from the General Directorate of Taxes, ensuring a unified approach to tax relief. The Directorate of Major Enterprises (DGE) is organizing open days under the slogan 'Tax Settlement Week', implementing these measures under instructions from the General Directorate of Taxes. These open days are specifically designed to clarify the details and implications of the new tax relief provisions. The tax settlement process will remain open until December 31st, which is also the deadline for benefiting from this exceptional opportunity. Benefiting from the new measures requires submitting a settlement request form, which has been streamlined to simplify the application process. Taxpayers who previously filed a complaint must provide an undertaking to waive complaints to utilize the new procedure, thereby resolving outstanding disputes. Similarly, those with existing disputes must waive appeals and complaints to benefit from the debt cancellation and clearing process, ensuring a definitive resolution of their tax status. Separately, the automatic deletion of tax debts incurred before 2011 is nearing completion and does not require any action from the taxpayer, providing a significant relief for older liabilities.
Details of Debt Relief Measures
The measures implemented during Algeria's 'Tax Settlement Week' are based on Article 96 of the Finance Law for 2026, which addresses voluntary tax settlement, and Article 122, which pertains to the cancellation and clearing of tax debts. These articles form the legal framework for the full debt relief program. Article 122 specifically provides for the cancellation of all tax debts that accumulated up to December 31, 2011. These debts from before 2011 encompass simple rights, assessment penalties, and collection penalties of a tax nature, provided they were imposed before 2022. A key aspect of this provision is that these older debts are automatically canceled without any required action from the taxpayer, significantly reducing the administrative burden on businesses. The process for deleting these tax debts incurred before 2011 is nearing completion and is entirely automatic, ensuring a smooth transition for affected entities.
For tax debts incurred between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2025, the new provisions stipulate a 100% cancellation of assessment penalties and late payment or collection penalties. This complete waiver of penalties aims to encourage compliance and provide substantial financial relief. For debts within this same period, taxpayers are required to pay 70% of the simple rights, while being exempted from the remaining 30%. This means that for debts from 2012 up to December 31, 2025, taxpayers benefit from a 30% reduction on the simple rights, alongside a full cancellation of assessment penalties, increases, and collection penalties. This full relief package is designed to address more recent tax liabilities in a structured and beneficial manner.
Once a taxpayer has paid 70% of the simple rights, they will receive a cancellation decision, which is issued after a formal review of their submitted file. This decision officially confirms the resolution of their tax obligations under the new measures. The process for tax settlement has been significantly streamlined, now requiring only a single document: a settlement request form, making it more accessible for businesses. Simple and complete files submitted through this process are designed to be processed quickly, within a maximum timeframe of 72 hours, ensuring efficiency and prompt resolution. Files that involve disputes or require debt scheduling may take a longer period to process, though officials indicate this extended processing time will not be excessive, maintaining a commitment to timely service. The deletion of tax debts from 2011 and prior years is reportedly almost complete, with only minor administrative adjustments remaining to finalize these cancellations. Debts belonging to participating enterprises will be canceled gradually as each entity completes its respective procedures, with certificates of discharge issued continuously throughout the process, providing ongoing assurance to taxpayers.
Scope and Eligibility
The tax settlement measures specifically target major enterprises with capital exceeding 200 billion centimes or an annual turnover greater than 2 billion dinars. These financial thresholds define the scope of the initiative, focusing on entities with substantial economic activity. Enterprises meeting the turnover criterion of over 2 billion dinars are required to submit their files directly to the Directorate of Major Enterprises (DGE) located in Ben Aknoun, ensuring specialized handling for larger corporations. For enterprises falling below this financial threshold, provincial tax directorates are responsible for handling their respective files and settlement requests, decentralizing the process for smaller businesses.
The scope of the measure extends to a wide range of businesses operating within Algeria. This includes public enterprises, private companies, and foreign enterprises that are legally operating under Algerian law, ensuring broad applicability across the economic landscape. Public, private, and foreign enterprises operating under Algerian law are all concerned by this measure, noting its inclusive nature for legally established businesses. Approximately 2,000 major enterprises in Algeria are estimated to be affected by these new tax settlement provisions, indicating the significant reach and potential impact of the program. However, the tax settlement measures do not apply to all entities. Companies that have received final judgments for tax fraud, deceit, or other related crimes are explicitly excluded from benefiting from this initiative, maintaining a clear distinction for those involved in illicit activities.
Throughout the 'Tax Settlement Week' event, questions raised by participating enterprises have primarily focused on two key areas, reflecting the main concerns of the business community. Businesses have sought clarification regarding the process for deleting tax debts incurred before 2011, showing the importance of understanding the automatic cancellation mechanism. Additionally, there has been significant interest in understanding how to benefit from the exemptions and reductions available for tax debts accumulated between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2025. These inquiries reflect the main objectives of the government's tax settlement program, which aims to provide clarity and facilitate compliance.
Process and Benefits
Disputants seeking to benefit from the tax settlement procedure are required to waive their complaints, a necessary step to finalize their tax status. Once a file is submitted, the taxpayer is considered to be in a secure position regarding their tax obligations, providing peace of mind during the settlement process. For the period spanning 2012 to 2025, payment can be made either as a lump sum or through an installment payment plan, offering flexibility to businesses based on their financial capacity. This payment option remains available until December 31st, which is the deadline for benefiting from the initiative, urging timely action from eligible enterprises.
Some enterprises have already begun the process of paying their dues and settling their tax status, demonstrating early engagement with the program. As of the latest figures, approximately 53 applications have been registered specifically for debts incurred after 2012, indicating a growing uptake of the new measures. An individual tax official is currently handling 13 of these files, with 7 of them having already completed their payment and settlement procedures, showcasing progress in the implementation. The Directorate of Major Enterprises (DGE) has had a digitization process in place since 2019, which facilitates remote declarations and payments for taxpayers, further enhancing the efficiency and accessibility of tax services for major enterprises. This digital infrastructure supports the smooth execution of the tax settlement initiatives.