What Does The New “Auto-entrepreneur Bill” Mean For Startup Founders In Algeria. Here’s What You Should Know
Algeria’s Minister of Knowledge Economy, Start-ups, and Microenterprises, Yacine El Mahdi Oualid, presented the bill on the status of the auto-entrepreneur to members of the National People’s Congress’s Business Commission Economics, Development, Industry, Commerce, and Planning (NPC) on Monday in Algiers.
Oualid stated during the presentation session, which was chaired by Kamel Belakhdar, President of the Commission, and was attended by Besma Azouar, Minister for Relations with Parliament, that the text of the law aims to “define the status of self-entrepreneur as well as the conditions and rules applicable to the exercise of the auto-entrepreneur activity.”
According to the minister, the status of the auto-entrepreneur was established as a “major proposition” during the national summit on the knowledge economy held in Algiers on March 29 and 30, 2021.
The law’s text aims to organise “the new economic activities” that have emerged with the emergence of the knowledge economy and the digital economy and “which are not governed by any legal framework to date,” according to Oualid, who cited “the developer of web and mobile applications, the VTC, the administrator of social network platforms, and the infographer” as examples.
The Minister expressed confidence that the bill will “develop the entrepreneurial spirit and facilitate young people’s access to the labour market through self-employment,” as well as “reduce the number of people active in the parallel market without social coverage and contribute to the integration of this category into the official economy.”
The Minister also emphasised the role that this project will play in “lowering the costs of start-ups by allowing them to appeal to independent entrepreneurs and a common exploitation of human resources among the different companies,” as well as facilitating the export of certain digital services, within the framework of the new notes issued by the Bank of Algeria (BA) concerning the authorization to transfer all income from the export of digital services in forei
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The minister noted in his presentation that the auto-entrepreneur status “has been adopted in several countries in the region,” particularly because it has proven its effectiveness in the organisation of economic activities, given that it constitutes “a multidisciplinary framework that meets the needs of all economic sectors and is also intended to be a strong tool, with a view to ensuring fiscal and financial integration.”
The Minister explained to the Commission members the conditions of eligibility for self-employment, which the law defines as “the individual practise of a lucrative activity that is on the list of eligible activities fixed by regulatory,” especially since the auto-entrepreneur’s annual turnover does not exceed 5 million DA.
However, the measure excludes from its reach “the liberal professions, regulated activities, and craftspeople.”
Furthermore, the law specifies the benefits offered to the auto-entrepreneur, such as “keeping simplified accounts, exemption from business register registration, subject to a favourable tax system, social security coverage, and the option of opening a commercial bank account.”
The law, on the other hand, imposes obligations on the auto-entrepreneur, such as registration in the National Register of Auto-Entrepreneurs, declaration to the National Social Security Fund for Non-Employees (CASNOS), and declaration of existence with the tax services in order to obtain the Tax Identification Number (NIF), all within 30 days of receiving the auto-entrepreneur card.
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The legislation also mandates a declaration of turnover, the presentation of commercial and/or postal bank accounts every six (6) months, as well as a statement of turnover and the payment of royalties to the tax services in line with the applicable laws and regulations.
auto-entrepreneur Algeria auto-entrepreneur Algeria auto-entrepreneur Algeria
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh