Members of the Civil Society Consortium on Community Accountability and Service Delivery have supported the National Revenue Authority (NRA) for the recent introduction of the Electronic Cash Register (ERC), which is mainly for business people whose turnover is one hundred million Leones and above.
The introduction of the new system has caused public outcry, especially among business people who feel that ‘it is an additional burden on them.’
The Consortium however believes that the importance of the new system cannot be overemphasized. This is because there is need to automate Goods and Services Tax (GST) invoices process, automate NRA systems and processes, and enhance voluntary compliance. “The system is simpler and faster than the normal procedure,” the Consortium believes.
Addressing a news conference in Freetown, the National Coordinator of the Consortium, William Sao-Lamin, insisted on the need for business people, who have a turnover of one hundred million Leones and above, to use the ECR machines, stressing that if they fail to do so it will amount to “statutory offence.”
Mr. Lamin said taxation, in Sierra Leone, started the moment the first Income Tax Act was enacted in 1943, noting that data sharing is important in the implementation of Cash Register System (CRS).
He further explained that CRS is a system comprising of certified invoicing system (CIS) and sales data controller connected together as one system. He said SDC/ESD is a device connected to CIS for: signing on the receipt, storing receipt information and storing receipt information to NRA server.
Sao-Lamin, said as CSOs, they have the responsibility to critic and complement the efforts of government.
“We can only control our resources if we generate revenue. The only way our country can move forward is to come together and pay our taxes,” he added.
He said they have signed an MOU with NRA so that if any critical situation develops they will come together and find a solution to it.
Whilst thanking President Julius Maada Bio for his support to NRA, the Consortium recommends that the latter implements the use of the new system to the fullest.
He told journalists that only foreign nationals are complying with the new system, which eases the storage of receipts and therefore called on Sierra Leonean business communities to comply with the ECR so that NRA will generate more funds.
In his contribution, Alphonso Manley, stated that if any business entity, whose returns are over one hundred millions Leones, refuses to use the ECR system it means they are evading tax, adding that the new system does not provide any additional tax on businesses. “It aides businesses,” he concluded.
