The Petroleum Directorate has paid the sum of Seventy Two Million, Nine Hundred Thousand (Old) Leones (Le72,900,000) to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) as PAYE for the domestic staff which that institution failed to pay for as highlighted in the 2021 Audit Report by Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL).
The Audit Report of 2021 highlighted that the Petroleum Directorate also failed to account for the sum of Fifty Five Million, Eight Hundred and Four Thousand One Hundred and Twenty Five (Old) Leones (Le55,804,125) which was paid as GST, for which GST invoices were not made available to the auditors for review.
The report further stated that the Petroleum Directorate made domestic allowance payments to senior staff totaling Two Hundred and Forty Three Million (Old) Leones (Le243,000,000) without deducting Pay As you Earn (PAYE) tax of Seventy-Two Million, Nine Hundred (Old) Leones (Le 72, 900,000).
The ACC investigation established that out of a list of suppliers provided to the ACC, by the Petroleum Directorate affected by the 15% GST payment, two out of the five suppliers had not issued GST invoices to the Petroleum Directorate and as such did not pay same to the NRA on their behalf.