Adapting Digital Economy Taxation in Zanzibar

Taxation of e-commerce is a broad topic of tax policy with different thoughts on how e-commerce relates with traditional principles of taxation specifically to regional countries like Zanzibar. Taxation of e-Commerce is characterized by the transaction of goods and services through the Internet. As the e-commerce market for providing services over the Internet continues to grow, several online companies have emerged to serve the growing needs of Internet users. They include Dell, Amazon, Aliexpress, Alibaba Yahoo, Baidu, WhatsApp Sina, and Ebay amongst others. The issue of collecting tax concerning electronic commercial transactions in Zanzibar is facing various challenges simply because the whole operation needs high achievement of advancement of science and technology and new form of administer. Tax administration is a very detailed and increasingly complex area of expertise, particularly as far as international issues related to MNCs are concerned. Consequently, the adoption of DST is necessary to assist in the collection of tax from those types of businesses in Zanzibar, which poses the greatest challenges to the current international tax framework.