In July, the Government of Tanzania decided to apply the national Value Added Tax (VAT) of 18% to all services rendered to foreign tourists, including hunters. Operators received only a week’s notice before enactment. Until now, foreign tourists had been exempt from this tax.
After some initial uncertainty, it is now clear that the new tax applies also to hunting tourism and to foreign hunters visiting Tanzania.
The immediate introduction of the tax has created chaos. All hunts for this year and even many hunts for next year were sold without the tax, and most safari companies will be unable to cover the 18% tax themselves. What will happen now depends on the contracts that clients have, and whether provisions have been made for unexpected governmental taxes. All hunters who have a hunt booked in Tanzania are advised to immediately contact their operators about the tax.
The Hunting Report will have more in their August issue.