Beneficial owners' disclosure extended date in Tanzania

Beneficial owners' disclosure extended date in Tanzania

On 1 July 2020, the Finance Act incorporated amendments by creating certain advantageous ownership laws, such as Companies Act, Anti-Laundering Act, the Income Tax Act and the Trustees Incorporations Act.

The term beneficial owner means a natural individual who has directly or indirectly significant influence over an organization or arrangement, who has tremendous economic advantages from an entity or arrangement, directly or indirectly, whether operating on its own or in combination with others.

In filing annual returns and notifying the Registrar of Corporations of changes to the beneficial owner within 30 days of all such amendments, the Finance Act imposes a mandatory duty on law firms to declare their beneficial property owners. Please also notice that during the registration period, such disclosure by the beneficial owner must also be filed on the Companies Register.

The Finance Act required businesses, until 31 December 2020, to report their beneficiaries. The Minister for Industry and Commerce however extended the compliance period until December 2021 on 12 February 2021 (Extension of the Beneficial Ownership Information Period) to give Notice 2021.

Please be aware of the details to be filed in the registry of the company relating to Beneficiaries include: full name, date, place of origin, telephone number, nationality, national number of identity/passport, residential, mail, and e-mail address, place of work and position held. Moreover a register of benefit holders for all companies in Tanzania shall be established and maintained by the Registrar of Companies. The register will be open to FIU; TRA; anti-money laundering and terrorist funding authorities and authorities with the function of investigations, prosecutions, and confiscations of crime related to money laundering and terrorist financing.