The Tax Commission into Tax Evasion and other corrupt practices Monday continued sitting in
Established in November 2011 by President Yahya Jammeh, the commission of inquiry looks into tax evasion and other corrupt practices of accountants, legal practitioners, companies, and private persons, medical practitioners and institutions required to pay tax to the Gambia Revenue Authority.
The commission was also mandated, among other things, to ascertain the extent of loss of public revenue resulting from non-payment of capital gains tax, personal income tax and sales tax; and to determine the role of individuals, groups and professional bodies in the evasion and avoidance of tax.
It will also enquire into professional malpractice by members of the public as it relates to obtaining goods through widespread issuance of false and dud cheques and other malpractices by members of professional bodies as these have affected foreign direct investment in The Gambia.
MAJ Construction Company
Marie Senghore, Managing Director of MAJ Construction Company, told the commission that MAJ was registered in 1999 as an architecture and engineering company.
She said she has a partner called Tijan Mbye, and they have people working under them.
Copies of her income tax payment from 1999 to 2008 were tendered and admitted by the commission.
She told the commission that the company is not working now, adducing that the jobs they were doing were donor-funded and they did not charge sales tax, because they worked with the EU and Gamworks.
“Our job does not require sales tax,” she added.
Copies of her pay as you earn from 1999 to 2003 were also tendered and admitted by the commission.
At that stage, the state counsel applied for the witness to produce her certificate of incorporation, the MoU of the company and the renewal of the business document from 1999 to date, and to submit these to the register of the commission.
Master Panning Limited
Zakaria Sillah, Managing Director of Master Panning Limited, told the commission that the company was incorporated in 2008, adding that it is an architecture and engineering company.
He produced the certificate of incorporation and the renewal document, which were tendered and admitted by the commission.
The company’s MOU was also tendered and admitted by the commission.
Mr Sillah went further to tell the commission that they were paying tax including payment of corporate tax, which were also admitted by the commission.
“We never collected any sales tax from people; most of the services we render are government engaged projects, and also donor-funded projects, which does not attract any sales tax,” he added.
Sillah said he has one partner and three other staff. His pay as you earn was also tendered and admitted by the commission.
Cityscape
The Managing Director of Cityscape, Modou Serign Gaye, also told the commission that they are operating as an engineering and consultancy company.
Mr Gaye told the commission that their company did mapping designing and engineering plans and construction.
“I took over the company and changed its name to Cityscape in 1998; then it’s name was Cornerstone,” he explained.
Copies of the MoU and the incorporation certificate were tendered and admitted by the commission.
Mr Gaye stated that they have not been paying sales tax because most of their works are from Gamworks and donor-funded.
Copies of payment of income tax and pay as you earn were tendered and admitted by the commission.
He said he has a partner called Alieu Gaye, and 13 staff.
Malick Njie, Managing Director of the Phoenix Associate, told the commission that he is a sole proprietor and started the company in 1996.
He added that the firm was registered and they specialize in Quantity Survey and Construction, adducing that he has four permanent staff, excluding himself.
Copies of his income tax and pay as you earn were all tendered and admitted by the commission from 1999 to 2012.
Edrissa Alieu Njie, Managing Director of the Gambia Engineering Consultancy Service, told the commission that it was registered in 1999, as an engineering consultancy service.
He produced his incorporation document which was tendered, adding that they have 19 people working for the company, and they have been paying their taxes from 1999 to date.
The pay as you earn from 1998 to 2012, as well as his sales tax receipts from 1998 to 2011, were tendered and admitted by the commission.
The company’s accountant, Abdul Markin Tin, was also at the commission and tendered schedules that contained payment of sales tax, incorporation tax receipts and the company registration fees.
The Managing Director of the Gambia Architecture Planning Consultancy Ltd, Joseph Sarr, explained to the commission that the company was registered in 1994, and they have nine workers, including two directors.
Copies of the renewal of registration, the MoU, incorporated tax and pay as you earn receipts were all tendered before the commission.
He added that they did not pay sales tax, because most of their works are from EU and donor-funded projects, which does not require sales tax
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Francis Thomas John
Francis Thomas John told the commission that he is a sole proprietor operating as Francis Thomas John Associate, a consultancy firm specialized in valuation, and that it was registered in 1997
He said he has only one secretary, and his income tax receipts were tendered before the commission.
Fatou Bittaye
Also to appear before the commission was Fatou Bittaye, a legal executive at the Gambia Competition Commission and a lawyer by profession.
She said she was called to the bar in January 2011, and produced a document in support of her evidence that she is a legal officer at the Commission.
She added that she was a state counsel at the Ministry of Justice and her appointment letter at the Ministry of Justice was tendered, showing that she was a state prosecutor, which was accordingly admitted by the commission.
Meanwhile, one Momodou L. Korka, a detective police officer with the Gambia Police Force, who was assigned by the tax commission to arrest one Christin Sin of Sahel Investment Company, yesterday told the commission that he was unable to arrest Sin at
He said he went to Sahel Investment Company, and one Abdoulie Touray told him that Christin Sin had travelled out of the jurisdiction for the past nine to ten years, and is in the
He then submitted the report he brought, which was tendered before the commission.
Sitting of the commission continues.
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