Irregularities In Revenue Management… Le81.5 Billion In Limbo

The recent audit report revealed that the total sum of SLE81,517,672.36 (Le81,517,672,000) could not be accounted for due to failure on the part of the National Revenue Authority (NRA) to collect tax revenue and apply measures and penalties against defaulters.

“Notwithstanding the encouraging steps employed by the NRA to improve the revenue generation performance, we noted some gaps in the revenue assessment, collection, and reporting,” the Audit Report stated.

The audit maintained that the gaps could be attributed mainly to the failure of the NRA to collect tax revenue and apply measures and penalties against defaulters as allowed by law.

That input GSTs were not supported by relevant documentation, such as the schedule of local purchases and import GST in the Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS) which led to a revenue loss totaling SLE39,724,763.

That Sierra Leone Commercial Bank made a transfer totaling SLE3,565,919 regarding income tax revenue collected during 2022 to the Bank of Sierra Leone.

“We however could not trace this transfer in the Income Tax accounts held at the Bank of Sierra Leone,” the Audit stated.

The report furthered that the non-compliance with clauses in the contract agreement between some companies and various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) amounted to a cash loss of SLE38,226,990.36.
More on this in subsequent edition.