The Commissioner General of the National Revenue Authority (NRA), Allieu Sesay, has said, “we need to reduce our dependency on our development partners”.
He made this statement Tuesday while addressing a cross section of professional service providers at the Miatta Conference hall, Brookfields in Freetown, on taxes.
Mr Sesay said, “the government needs financial resources to keep the country going”, adding that, 60% of what government had was from taxation
The commissioner general noted that they needed to raise as much taxes they could to meet the country’s challenges.
He pointed out that, “it’s our obligation to support government by paying our taxes when it is due”, noting that, “if a tax payer fails to pay when it is due there are consequences to face”.
In his address the deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Ibrahim Sorie Kamara, said the meeting was a reminder of various tax payers for their obligations.
Highlighting some of the consequences of failing to pay taxes, he said NRA had the right to go into people’s business premises and got hold of all their assets, confiscate them and put them on public auction; that NRA had the right to instruct people’s bankers to stop their accounts and also had the right to publish people’s names on gazette, newspapers, radio stations and television stations.
Mr Kamara noted that the commission also had the right to restrict people from traveling in and out of the country,
“As tax payers”, he said, “you have the responsibilities of paying your tax on time and filing your returns to the commission on time to ensure that you meet the obligations”. He urged them to adhere to their obligations and pay their taxes at the stipulated time.
Some of the professional service providers raised concerns that NRA should sensitize the public about this new development, and also asked that they should see improvements on social amenities and public infrastructures.
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