The recent introduction of a tax on digital financial transactions continues to provoke strong reactions. Samba Diouf, a legal consultant specializing in digital economy and business law, was a guest on a debate broadcast on Seneweb this Wednesday, September 25, warning of the risks of such a tax measure.

Indeed, the director of the Internal Quality Assurance Unit at the University of the Sahel believes that this measure places the burden on the end user. "The 0.5% tax is an indirect tax that affects the consumer. For example, if today we want to transfer 1,000 CFA francs, we will have to give the Senegalese government 0.5%," he said to his co-debaters Momar Ndao, president of the Senegalese Consumer Association, and Mansa Oualy, an economist.

Samba Diouf says that these levies risk causing a decline in digital usage and a return to traditional practices. He explains: "If today, I want to send a million somewhere and I don't have any fees, I'd definitely prefer to call a relative, a friend, to give the money for me. These are the practices that risk returning because the State must move beyond this state of taxation."

For the lawyer, the real issue isn't these micro-levies. "The financial windfall is no longer where the state is looking. The operators are in the financing markets," the consultant asserted.

In this sense, he calls on the authorities to take a more strategic view by trying "to establish partnerships with these operators who earn a lot from us, so that they help finance our economy."

The expert thus advocates for greater fiscal consistency. "We will have to make a better choice in the typology of fiscal standards, when there are consumers who are facing giants," said Samba Diouf.