The National Revenue Authority earlier denied that they used 1.3M United States Dollars of Sierra Leoneans Tax payers to purchase a property in Freetown which is believed to be around Wilkinson Road.
The fact about the said property has been laid bare by the recent audit report for which a further indictment was made against NRA.
According to the Auditors, upon review of the schedule of assets acquired during 2021, they noted a piece of land purchased (CAPEX 0521010) by the NRA for US$1,320,000.
They explained that the NRA did not deduct the withholding tax of 10% (US$132,000), contravening Section 123A of the Income Tax Act of 2000.
“We recommended that this amount (US$132,000) should be recovered from the payee and paid into the Consolidated Fund and evidence of payment submitted to the Audit Service,” the Auditors requested
In his response to the Audit queries, the Commissioner General Samuel Jibao said that the auditors’ comment is noted and that they have written a letter to the legal representative of the Company through whom funds were paid
He pointed out that the Commissioner of Domestic Tax has also been informed to take the necessary action but the auditors were not convinced about the explanation of the Commissioner General
“A letter written to the legal representative was submitted for audit verification. There was however no response or evidence of payment of taxes made available to the auditors during verification. This issue remains unresolved,” the Auditors stated.
