Monrovia – The Commissioner General of the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) Elfrieda Tamba has come in the spotlight again for allegedly refusing to honor a ruling from the Tax Court at the Temple of Justice.
Report by Kennedy L. Yangian, [email protected]
Madam Tamba is on record for allegedly refusing court order in 2015 when she was accused of challenging the Supreme Court’s contempt charge against her alleged refusal to re-instate 10 dismissed LRA employees.
However, she was pardoned by the high court after former Solicitor General Betty Larmie Blamo pleaded on her behalf.
In the current legal case involving the LRA, the Tax Court sitting at the Temple of Justice on April 23, 2018 entered its final judgment when it held the LRA liable and ordered the payment of USD$357, 691, 33 as refund plus interest taxes to a company that allegedly paid illegal taxes to the tax authority.
The court’s decision has come about after the LRA failed to perfect its appeal taken against the Tax Court ruling on April 23, which held the LRA liable.
“The denial of the motion of relief from judgment announced today, both such avenues are hereby closed off to the LRA, the final judgment of April 23, 2018 is therefore hereby affirmed and confirmed and the LRA is denied the option of continuing to pursue its appeal due to its failure to timely complete the process,” said Judge Mozart Chesson
However, despite the court ruling and cost against the LRA boss, she is yet to receive and adhere to the court ruling.
Tamba and lawyers failed to attend a meeting arranged by the court on the matter on Tuesday, June 19 with no reason for her absence.
At the same time, the LRA boss had refused to honor a communication from the Bridgeway Corporation to direct its refund taxes requested by the court to be directed as taxes toward clearing of its containers at the National Port Authority (NPA).
The Tax Court, early this year, received a petition from the Bridge Way Corporation (BWC) that it imported three consignments of cigarettes into Liberia.
BWC alleged that the first consignment was imported into the country on October 21, 2016, the second on November 20, while the third was on December18, 2018.
The BWC further alleged that Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) without reference to any law exerted 10% good rate 80% and 50% Excise Tax rate on consignments of tobacco and that the illegal action of the LRA caused BWC to pay import levies of US$426, 692.09 when the actual amount that BWC should have paid could be US$226,455.33.
In order word, BWC was compelled to pay an excess of US$200, 143.76 in which the BWC needed refund from the LRA.
However, the LRA told the court in its resistance to the petition that its action was based on proposal made by the National Legislature in the Fiscal Year 2016/2017 budget to increase goods and service taxes on tobacco and tobacco products from 7% to 10% and Excise Tax from35% to 80% respectively.
“The Fiscal Year 2016/2017 Budget was based partly on assumptions of increments in Excise Tax rate on tobacco and tobacco products from 35% to 50% and increment in goods tax from 7% to 10% on all commodities, that the passage of the budget means that the Legislature had amended the Revenue Code of 2000,” said the LRA.
According to the Bridgeway Corporation, Section 14 (b) of the Revenue Code provides, in a case of an over payment of tax, interest, compounded monthly, at the rate determined under Section 11 shall be paid to the taxpayer from the date of the overpayment to the date on which the refund is made.
Citing the tax law, the company insists that interest is not payable to the taxpayer if the refund is made no more than 45 days from the receipt of the tax payer’s application for a refund of the overpayment.