By Crispina Cummings
Parliament has passed the Finance Act 2013, which bill was presented by deputy minister of finance, Momodu Kargbo, arguing that it was exceptionally important to make business competitive but also make rules to regularize them.
He said the Act would enable the tax waver to change, as would open windows in excise duty on polythene and plastic, beverage foods, tobacco, music scene, as well as regularise artisanal mining.
Kargbo said the bill would include the introduction of a new electronics register to collect GST and NRA revenue as a way to reduce malpractices and replace the manual register that was being used for those purposes.
He also said that work permits would be given criteria which must be met by companies bringing in expats.
Brima Conteh, MP, said they must ensure that the benefits of tax were seen and felt by the people. Another MP, Manley Spain, said people should be encouraged to pay their taxes so the economy would generate more revenue.
Gladys Gbappy-Brima, MP, said taxes should be increased for the country to be able to provide for its people. She said there were a lot of leakages to be looked at.
(C) Politico 19/11/13
