Small businesses receiving their annual assessments have found themselves taxed at rates up to four times higher than in previous years. That is according to residents of two towns outside Addis Ababa where strikes started earlier this month. Shops and bus companies in the Oromia town of Incinni closed for three days last week in protest of the tax hike, a local resident told AFP on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. They are “angry because the tax promulgation is unfair, and scared to protest because if they do a shooting might occur,” the resident said. Federal police officers in the town threatened shopkeepers who weren’t open during business hours.

Source: Ethiopian News July 25, 2017 16:52 UTC