The National Revenue Authority (NRA) has collected over Le5 billion in Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax in three days when they started the operations on Friday last week.
The Corporate Affairs Manager, Mohamed Bangura said this is the time that NRA usually intensified their tax collection so as not to allow institutions to go into the New Year with debt.
He said they are also making sure that they collect all these monies as they have to meet their target at all cost.
“We are undertaking these activities because government needs money and we must make sure that every penny owed the government will be collected at all cost.”
Mr Bangura said there are other institutions that have come and paid their debts after they saw or read from the news that they have shut down some institutions. He said they have closed down Sierra Leone Airports Authority and Timis Corporation as both of them owe Le4.5 billion and Le14 billion, respectively.
The Corporate Affairs Manager said that they will continue the exercise and warned all those institutions that have been receiving reminders from them to come and pay and not allow the NRA to visit them and embarrass them by driving all the workers from the premise and sealing it, which is not good for their business.
Also, the many of their middle management staff are presently undergoing training on Financial practices so as to improve their skills in tax collection and other financial services.
The training is being conducted by West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), and this training, due to the ebola, could take place, but now that ebola is over they have conducted the training for their staff.
The Chairman of NRA, Sulaiman Kabbah Koroma said that the board is fully supporting the tax collection team in dispencing their duties and any body who tries to hinder them from executing the sealing of institutions, should be arrested and taken to court.
“It is very bad that these institutions are deducting monies from their workers salaries to pay for them and yet they refused to make the payment. These monies are what the government is using to pay salaries, build roads, hospitals and schools, so people must make sure that every PAYE tax must be paid immediately to government and avoid embarassment.
He commended the staff of NRA for not relenting and hope they will continue to do their work without fear or favour.
Wednesday November 25, 2015
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