By Nasratu Kargbo
There is a huge disagreement between the National Revenue Authority (NRA) and the Mobile Money Operators (MMO) on whether the Goods and Services Tax (GST) levied should be paid from the MMOs' charges or from the customers.
During an engagement held on the 8th of September 2023 between NRA and stakeholders in the telecommunication sector, the two parties could not agree on who should pay the GST imposed recently. According to the MMOs, they are currently paying 25% of their turnover in tax to the revenue authority and stressed that they should not be the ones paying the GST.
Whilst reacting to comments made by the NRA Commissioner Ibrahim Brima Swarray regarding the GST, the Chief Executive Officer Orange Sierra Leone Sekou Amadu Bah said his understanding of GST is a tax paid by the customer and not the businesses.
“In our revenue, we are already paying 25% to the authority and we will collect the 15% on behalf of the authority as GST. But if we are to absorb the said 15%, that is not the definition of GST” he noted
Bah explained that with the introduction of the GST, the burden will be felt by the customers, noting if the NRA insists, they as operators have no choice but to comply by collecting the 15% GST on behalf of the government. He was quick to note that their fees as operators will not increase.
The CEO said he had written letters to NRA on several occasions on how they can discuss implementation because he said people would start accusing them as operators, but that no one responded to their request from the authority.
Following the statements made by the MMOs, Swarray promised to have further engagements with the operators to have “a win-win situation”.
Swarray had earlier explained that the government will be taxing the charges the customers pay to the mobile operators on transactions and stressed that they will not levy a special tax on the customers.
“It is the revenue you’re generating that we are going to tax, not the money that the customers will send,” he said.
He cited that by sending money via mobile money transfer, the customer would have already paid a transaction cost and that they would be collecting the GST from that transaction cost and not from the money customers send.
The Commissioner had commented on a notice put out by Africell which reads “Dear customers please note that in compliance with the new Finance Act, all Afri Money fees would be updated taking the GST”, he described the message as a blind statement and that it is not what they had communicated to the MMOs.
He noted that the stories making rounds through different social media platforms about the government taxing customers are false and called on the operators to ensure they sensitize their customers.
Both parties had agreed to hold further engagements in a bid to agree on the implementation.
MMOs had sent messages to their customers that the GST would be effective on the 15th of September 2023.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (13/09/23)
