November 24, 2016 By Regina Pratt
National Coordinator for the Sierra Leone Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (SLANGO), Shellac Davies, has confirmed that NGOs can reclaim import duty they pay into the Escrow Account for goods the import within six weeks, although subject to a deduction of about 2 to 10 percent.
While presenting the 2017 Appropriation Bill in Parliament recently, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Momodu Kargbo, stated that all NGOs were required to pay import duty from henceforth.
During an interview with Concord Times at her Tengbeh Town office in Freetown, Ms. Davies revealed that three days before the budget was read in Parliament NGOs were called to a meeting where they were informed about the new policy.
According to her, the move would affect both national and international non-governmental organisations, adding “I cannot comment much as the process has not yet started and we are still waiting for the system to be setup.”
She noted that the final decision to remove tax waiver was reached during a Cabinet meeting, which they were informed of by the Finance Minister.