Businesses Wait as Tax Rulings Lag in Addis Abeba

Businesses Wait as Tax Rulings Lag in Addis Abeba

Jan 24 , 2026. By SURAFEL MULUGETA ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER )

Delays at the Addis Abeba Tax Appeal Commission are leaving many domestic businesses in suspense, waiting months for written rulings after their tax cases have been heard. Official records show the Commission registered 818 new appeals in the third quarter of 2025, bringing the year’s caseload to 1,144, yet appellants report that rulings remain elusive long after hearings end.

Addis Abeba’s Tax Appeal Commission is facing increasing pressure as a backlog of unresolved tax appeal decisions leaves businesses in prolonged uncertainty.

Taxpayers report mounting frustration over the Commission’s failure to deliver timely written rulings, even after hearings conclude and verbal assurances of case closure are given.

The Commission, tasked with arbitrating disputes between taxpayers and the city’s revenue authorities, is overwhelmed. In the third quarter of 2025 alone, it received 818 new appeals, pushing its caseload to 1,144. Though it ruled on 686 cases during that period, nearly 60pc, appellants claim that receiving written decisions remains an arduous process.

At the heart of this dysfunction is a procedural gap. Decisions rendered by judges do not automatically translate into enforceable rulings.

According to Behailu Nibret, vice president of the Commission, rulings should undergo drafting, judge approvals, and registrar processing before final issuance.

“After a ruling is made, the decision should be prepared and signed by the judges,” he said. “Only when the decision is prepared and signed is the case officially closed.”

However, while regulations set a six-month limit on appeal resolution, the timeframe for issuing a formal decision after the verdict remains ambiguous and unenforced.

Hingya Abdisemed’s year-long tax ordeal reveals the system’s shortcomings.

Running a legal translation business in Yeha Building, on Ras Mekonnen Avenue, near Addis Abeba Stadium, Hingya’s business was initially assessed for tax at 600 Br a day. A surprise revision by the Revenue Bureau inflated her estimated daily earnings to 7,500 Br, later reduced to 4,000 Br, figures she says grossly overstate her actual income, particularly given the seasonality and dependency of her work on court activity.

“It's still much more than what I earn,” she said. “My daily income doesn't come anywhere near that amount.”

The new estimate pushed her into the value-added tax (VAT) bracket and set her projected annual earnings above 2.5 million Br.

“That isn't right,” Hingya said. “My business doesn't make that amount of money.”

Convinced the assessment was wrong, Hingya filed a formal complaint with the revenue office on October 31, 2024, challenging the revised figure. It took the Bureau eight months to respond. Her appeal was heard by the Tax Appeal Commission in mid-2025, with verbal confirmation of a decision by December. Yet months later, she remains in limbo. After being told the letter was ready, she was asked to join a Telegram group for updates, an informal workaround that only deepens confusion.

“It has now been almost two months, and I still don’t know how long it will take,” Hingya told Fortune.

The absence of a formal ruling leaves her exposed to penalties and unable to comply with tax obligations or plan for her business.

Another case involves a woman, who asked to remain anonymous, seeking to dissolve her family-run travel agency, left stagnant by dwindling tourism and the death of her father.

“The business was already performing badly because we weren't getting many tourists,” she said. “After my father passed away, I wanted to shut it down.”

But when she approached the revenue office to close the company, a mandatory five-year audit triggered a steep two-million-Birr tax bill for the first year alone. Though the Commission informed her that a ruling had been reached in late December 2025, she has yet to receive written confirmation, stalling the closure process and exacerbating financial pressures.

“They told me I would get the decision within 15 days,” she said. “But it has been almost a month now, and I still haven’t received the result. I don’t know how long it will take.”

According to the Vice President of the Commission, the length of time required to review each case varies. Once the decision is signed, both parties receive it within seven days, according to Behailu. Each hearing, he noted, is spaced more than 15 days apart, adding to the timeline.

“The appeal process is long and thorough so that the decision can be fair,” he told Fortune. “We can't determine exactly how long each case will take. We've the prerogative to take the necessary time to examine cases thoroughly."

Delays persist, however. For legal experts, a dual challenge of understaffing and poor communication is to blame. While the Commission may be committed to thorough reviews, it lacks the institutional responsiveness to keep appellants informed.

Aman Eumer is a lawyer and legal adviser with more than 13 years of experience. He holds an undergraduate degree in political science from Addis Abeba University, an undergraduate law degree from Haramaya University and a postgraduate degree in psychology from Lincoln University, London.

He saw that appellants often do not understand the Commission’s internal processes. This opaqueness results in a mismatch of expectations. Appellants interpret judges’ verbal decisions as final, unaware of the bureaucratic steps that follow.

“When a judge says a case is over, most appellants believe the process has fully ended and that they will receive the written decision shortly,” he said. “However, that is not how the internal procedure works. Even judges may not know how long these internal steps will take, making it impossible to provide reliable timelines to appellants."

Beyond procedural inefficiencies, the economic costs are significant. Delayed rulings freeze tax disputes in place, allowing interest and penalties to accrue. For small business operators, especially in service sectors already strained by seasonal demand or external shocks, these costs are unsustainable.

“When time passes, penalties and interest can add up,” Aman said. “Together, they can significantly affect appellants.”

The Tax Appeal Commission, located on Chad St., within a short distance of both the city’s revenue offices and the courts, often affects but is not translated into institutional efficiency. Despite processing cases involving billions in disputed taxes, 1.79 billion Br in revenue cases, and 1.8 billion Br in customs disputes in the third quarter alone, the Commission’s internal workflow continues to hinder timely resolution.

PUBLISHED ON Jan 24,2026 [ VOL 26 , NO 1343]