5 TOTAL AMOUNT AND DISTRIBUTION OF REVENUE COLLECTED

The total amount of annual collectable revenue is theoretically calculated according to two parameters, which are: the rate of tax and the volume of matter liable for tax. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the rate of tax is published by the text regulating the tax (order-law or ministerial decree), whilst the volume of material liable for tax is declared in the form of statistics, that is how much of the product has been harvested or exported, declared by the person liable for tax. Thus the latter becomes the most determining tax element in the total amount of revenue collected. Certain sources either collaborate in part or openly refuse to collaborate out of suspicion that there might be an enquiry or out of a spirit of meanness. Taking into account all that has gone before, we have proceeded to calculate the total amount of revenue collected by the Congolese State as the following table indicates.

Table 6 Annual revenue per tax and per service mobilising revenue (USD)

Revenue generator	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	Service
Surface area tax	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	OFMH
Tax on felling permits¹	40,415	40,415	40,415	40,415	40,415	FRFC
Forestry products menus	807	232	240	1,741	1,120	OFMH
Tax on wood for export¹	761,143	761,143	761,143	761,143	761,143	FRFC
Exit duties	214,860²	325,944	274,787	252,974	233,436	CEO
TOT	200,831³	200,831³	309,135	307,943	262,616	CEO
Remunerative tax	38,328	36,929	31,713	76,342	48,328	CMO
MFMO tax	1,259²	2,077	1,774	1,186	19,453	MFMO
Provincial tax	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	DAB
Tax on equipment	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Central Bank tax	6,499³	6,499³	9,159	2,558	7,781
Total	1,311,630	1,421,168	1,520,311	1,512,575	1,384,879

Notes: 1 - Average of last 5 years according to 1998 annual report FRFC; 2 - Average of past 4 years; 3 - Average of past 3 years; n.a. = not applicable; revenue is shown in US dollars.

The above revenue is theoretical because:

- certain felling permits established by the Ministry were not collected by those who requested them (for example, Forestière and Amexbois);

- taxes on exit duties are calculated just for the years 1997 and 1999 for which we have the export information per species; and

- remunerative tax collected by the CMO is calculated on total exports at a rate of 1.5% whereas it should be levied product by product, because the CMO no longer publishes export information per species.

On the basis of the table above, it can be concluded that the monetary flow from the forestry sector is about USD 1.4 million (average for 5 years). Revenue to the supervisory ministry is valued at Fc 4,527,286,53 or USD 181,091 (Table 7). Revenue generated by the forestry sector is higher than that generated by the Ministry responsible for forestry. The amounts collected by other players (CEO, MFMO, the CMO and the Central Bank) are not included in the revenue of the ministry managing forestry.

Table 7 Statistics for revenue collected in 2000

Account	Nature of revenue	Forecast 2000 (Fc)	Amount collected (Fc)			Variance
Account	Nature of revenue	Forecast 2000 (Fc)	Jan-Nov	Dec	Total	Variance
*A. PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT*
16-91	Harvesting permit: Ets-Dangereux	6,446,344	2,692,573	230,081	2,922,655
	*Subtotal*	*6,446,344*	*2,692,573*	*230,081*	*2,922,655*	*45.34%*
*B. FORESTRY MANAGEMENT AND HUNTING*
19-14 19-21a 19-21c 22-21 16-19 23-95 19-21d n.a.	Permit for exporting products and sub-products, fauna & flora Permit for commercial capture Permit for legitimate holding (of animal) Surface area tax Permit for exporting roots Phyto-sanitary certificate Registering tax Sale of wood in the reserve	- - - - - - - -	128,329 51,875 231,925 29,310 908 180 1,375 805,680	12,000 2,279 10,685 - - - - -	140,329 54,154 242,611 29,310 608 180 1,375 805,680
	*Subtotal*	*46,843,317*	*1,249,283*	*24,964*	*1,274,248*	*2.74%*
*C. FISHING AND AQUATIC RESOURCES*
14-63 16-92 16-95	Tax on embarkation & fishing net Semi-industrial fishing permit Harvesting authorisation & permit to export aquarium fish	51,585 46,584 47,220	79,874 31,942 67,838	- - -	79,874 31,942 67,838
	*Subtotal*	*145,369*	*179,654*	-	*179,654*	*123.58%*
*D. INSPECTORATE BODIES*
24-31a 24-31b 24-31c 24-31d	Fines transactions, lég, Ets-Dangereux Fines transactions, hunting laws Fines transactions, fishing laws Fines transactions, forestry laws	446,451 8,242 95,516 300,004	150,718 - - -	- - - -	150,718 - - -
	*Subtotal*	*850,213*	*150,718*	-	*150,718*	*17.72%*
	TOTAL	54,015,249	4,272,230	255,046	4,527,286	8.38%

Note: Ets-Dangereux is the name of the company. Source: main public accountant, Code 263, USD 1.00 = Fc 25.