The Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia has ruled that using retained earnings to pay up subscribed capital is not considered reinvestment, but rather debt offsetting. This means that dividends used to pay subscribed capital will be subjected to a 10% tax. The Ministry of Revenue’s ability to retroactively impose taxes on shareholders’ reinvested dividends is...Read More

Is the Declaration of Bankruptcy a Mandatory Requirement to Terminate an Employment Contract due to a Reduction in Work Volume or Profit? The Labor Proclamation No. 1165/2019 provides conditions under which an employer may terminate a worker’s employment contract with prior notice. Article 28(3) of the Proclamation, specifically, stipulates that those grounds attributable to the...Read More

Can a taxpayer present evidence to the tax authority after an Audit has started? Ethiopian tax statutes have not addressed the admissibility of evidence presented to the tax authority (the Ministry of Revenue) once an audit has started. The repealed Financial Bookkeeping Directive No. 152/2019 and the new Directive No. 176/2022 don’t sufficiently cover the...Read More

The Federal Supreme Court Issued Directive No. 17/2023 on Cassation Bench Appeal Procedures PDF Version Available Here On April 12, 2023, the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia issued a new directive (የፌዴራል ጠቅላይ ፍርድ ቤት የሰበር ሥነ-ሥርዓት መመሪያ ቁጥር 17/2015) on the procedures for entertaining appeals before the court’s Cassation Bench. The Directive provides different...Read More

Federal Supreme Court Cassation Bench Decision, File No. 233331: Is Bonus a Demandable Right of a Worker? The Federal Supreme Court Cassation Bench rendered a decision on the 30th of January 2023 under Case No. 233331 on the modalities of paying bonuses to resigned workers. This is a complimentary decision to previous cassation bench decisions...Read More