Mozambique revises IRPS code to tax commissions of M-Pesa, e-Mola and M-kesh agents

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Mozambique revises IRPS code to tax commissions of M-Pesa, e-Mola and M-kesh agents

2:47 CAT | 25 Aug 2025

File photo: TVM

Mozambique is revising its Personal Income Tax (IRPS) code to tax commissions from agents and the three Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs) which provide financial services via mobile phones.

According to a budget implementation report from the Ministry of Finance, consulted today by Lusa, the measure is part of a set of ongoing actions “to improve revenue collection levels for 2025”, in which the “government continues with tax policy reforms aimed at increasing revenue collection and implementing measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of tax administration”.

Firstly, it involves “modernizing the taxation mechanisms of the digital economy”, with “special emphasis” on mobile wallets, with the “taxation of commissions” from agents and the EMIs M-Pesa, e-Mola, and M-kesh.

It adds that “a Proposal to Amend the Personal Income Tax Code (IRPS) to tax commissions earned” by agents and EMIs is being prepared, but “taxation is also underway”, taking advantage of the existing legal framework.

In the first six months of the year, the budget execution document adds, 787 mobile wallet agents have already been registered, having been assigned NUITs (tax identification numbers) and started operating.

The three Mozambican mobile wallets totalled profits of 2.37 billion meticais (€31.9 million) in 2024, a 41.69% increase in one year, according to data reported on July 18 by Lusa.

According to a financial stability report from the Bank of Mozambique, this performance contrasts with the record 1.67 billion meticais (€22.5 million) in net profits from EMIs in 2023.

Fees, which “due to the nature of EMIs are crucial to the formation of results”, fell 2.71%, from 5.61 billion meticais (€75.6 million) in December 2023 to 5.46 billion meticais (€73.6 million) last year, the central bank document stated.

“In December 2024, banking sector activity continued to be marked by the development of new products, the expansion of financial services and digital distribution channels, as well as the growth of electronic money institutions,” it further noted.

Mozambique currently has three EMIs operated by the three mobile telecommunications operators, which provide financial services via mobile phones, including money transfers between customers and payment for services.

This solution facilitates and expands the population’s access to financial services, using only mobile phones and street-based EMI agents.

The number of digital wallet agents in Mozambique soared again in the first quarter of 2025, reaching 351,921, according to official data reported in June by Lusa.

According to the Bank of Mozambique’s most recent report on financial inclusion indicators, this represents coverage of 1,817 agents and 110 EMI accounts for every 100,000 adults.

This coverage, which already reaches all 154 districts in the country, has been progressively growing, reaching a previous record at the end of 2024, of 1,686 EMI agents per 100,000 adults, compared to just 350 in 2019.

By the end of 2024, the number of digital wallet agents in Mozambique reached 315,005, according to the central bank’s historical data.

According to a previous statistical report from the Bank of Mozambique, the number of bank accounts in the country grew 10% in 2024, from 5,687,975 at the end of 2023 to 6,221,640 in December of last year. However, this did not keep pace with the increase in EMI customers, which grew 18.5% in the same period, to 19,870,700, adding almost three million new accounts in the space of a year.

Source: Lusa