Sierra Leone debates GSM operator tax payments

The tax system for GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) companies and foreign frequency licensees operating in Sierra Leone has sparked controversy in the media.

Media reports last week questioned the impact of new tax procedures on the national telecommunications regulator, and whether operators have been subject to paying taxes simultaneously to separate government agencies.

Several newspapers have called for the government to harmonize the operations of the National Revenue Authority (NRA) and the National Telecommunication Commission (NATCOM) in order to steer clear of double taxation.

Some media commentators say the growing power of the NRA will handicap NATCOM and hamper its regulatory powers.

An article in a national daily, Premier News, urged a review of a new system in the country, in which telecom companies pay taxes directly to the NRA without going through NATCOM.

The story reported that NATCOM paid US$2 million to the government, through the NRA, including license renewal fees, spectrum fees and other funds collected from mobile phone operators in the country. NATCOM also paid another $2 million to the NRA in non-tax revenue, it claimed. Meanwhile, the NRA also is collecting fees directly from phone companies, it noted.

NATCOM's executive secretary, Bash Kamara, has debunked the story, saying the information is not true and was not confirmed with his office. Kamara acknowledged that according to the amended Telecom Act, annual license fees of mobile companies can now be paid directly to NRA. But he dismissed the question of double taxation.

Meanwhile, Information and Communications Minister Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo refuted a media report that he had a closed door meeting with the NRA, and that the ministry has also collected money from GSM service providers and foreign radio stations including the BBC and Voice of America.

"Our role is to supervise the various information outlets and provide political coverage for them and not to collect monies. We have nothing to do with revenue generation," he said.