NRA Customs Service Department At Quay Surpasses Target
The National Revenue Authority (NRA) is a government revenue authority established by an Act of Parliament on 13 September 2002. Operations commenced the following year, in 2003. With the goal of increasing domestic revenue collection and decreasing donor dependence, its primary mandate is to assess and collect tax revenues on behalf of the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL). Revenue collections are a key instrument for the Government of Sierra Leone in achieving its ambitions for poverty reduction, increasing financial independence, and achieving middle-income status.
It is no secret that Sierra Leone, over the years, has been faced with both tax reform policies and revenue administration challenges, like most African countries. Sierra Leone has a narrow tax base, which reduces potential revenues and makes the country more dependent than it could be on a small section of society. Broadening the tax base is a key challenge to mitigate this problem.
Furthermore, the country is challenged by the growing informal sector, making taxation in this sector difficult. It was recommended that for successful tax reform, there should be an interactive forum between the government and taxpayers, as a means of finding a common precise, and definite in its definition of what is obtainable and what is not. It was also recommended on the expedition of the automation process of Sierra Leone’s tax system to enable the majority of Sierra Leoneans to access information about the tax system, which will deter corruption, and improve effectiveness and efficiency in tax administration, incidental to improve tax collections by generating sustainable revenue.
The Press Concern People’s Advocacy Network Media Watch SL, examined the improvement in revenue collection through tax reforms under the New Reform Administration of Commissioner Tennyson Bio, Commissioner Richard Senessie and the rest. The objectives of the study were to identify the main tax reforms in the customs service department NRA at the Queen Elizabeth 11 Water Queue Port, assess the impact of tax reforms on revenue generation, and determine the extent to which tax reforms impact Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Data were sourced from the Research, and investigation by PC PAN Media Watch SL. Data were analysed by means of tables and bar graphs. The finding revealed that tax reforms under Commissioner Tennyson Bio and Commissioner Richard Senessie, showed that significant level of improvement has taken place in this shortest possible time.
From the consolidation of income tax and customs operations in 2024, automation of customs operations, the reformation and establishment of a Domestic Tax Department, the new administration at the Queen Elizabeth 11 Water Quay Customs service department, National Revenue Authority, under the leadership of young energetic Sierra Leoneans Comissioner, Tennyson Bio, Deputy Commissioner, Richard Senessie, and the head of the anti-smuggling Unit, Umaru Kanneh, have torn along sturdy reforms that have reflected on their performance over the shortest period. The outcomes are, among others, a massive boost in domestic revenue collection and improved efficiency in tax and customs administration.
This new Administration generated to present a periodic comparison of key tax indicators and to provide a glimpse of revenue potency. The targeted estimated revenue generation were simple statistical measures (mean and standard deviation), as a way of comparing averages and deviations for nominal collection, tax-GDP ratio, and annual revenue growth rate. The estimates revealed a mixed result. The Customs service department, NRA office, under the leadership of Tennyson Bio has collected on average of 72% over its new administration of operation, more than the average collected in Customs service department NRA at the Queen Elizabeth for the very first-time. However, the average revenue growth rate was better than the previous administration. Over the previous administration though, NRA Customs operations at the Queen Elizabeth 11 quay revenue performance has never shown a strong growth pattern or targeted revenue performance.
In a bid to meet the challenges of enhancing revenue collection, various reforms were introduced in the tax systems (Bio & Senessie). However, these reforms were part of a concerted effort by the young prolific commissioners to reform the entire tax system at the customs service department NRA, but part of the effort is to raise more revenue through budget pronouncements affecting the tax rates or tax brackets.
The reforms were also aimed at increasing efficiency and improving work conditions for the tax administration, and reducing inequalities, distortion, and corruption.
Despite the collective effort in the new administration, This new reform intended to examine the impact of tax reforms on the revenue collections of the Customs service Department of National Revenue Authority of Sierra Leone at the Port.