The Audit Report 2021 recently published by Audit Service Sierra Leone has confirmed that unpaid levies totaling over Thirty-Three Trillion Leones (Le 33,000,000,000) remained unpaid by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Internet Service Providers to the Universal Access Development Fund (UADF). The Report unearths that levies to the tune of Le 12,662,897,160.96 (Twelve Trillion, Six-Hundred and Sixty-Two Billion, Eight Hundred and Ninety-Seven million, One Hundred and Sixty Thousand point Ninety-Cent) for the Financial Year 2020 and levies to the tune of Le 21,412,122,288, 34 (Twenty-One Trillion, Four-Hundred and Twelve Billion, One-Hundred and Twenty-Two Million, Two Hundred and Eighty Eight Cent) for the Financial Year 2021 were remained unsettled by mobile network operators (MNOs) and ISPs to the UADF as there was no evidence of penalties for non-payment.
According to the 2021 Audit Service Sierra Leone Report, the was breach of Section 7(1) of the Universal Access Act of 2019 which stipulates that MNOs and ISPs should pay levies based on 0.75% of gross income attributable to income tax on 1st January for the previous year’s operation and sections 3(a)-3 (b) which requires that MNOs and ISPs who fail to comply will pay penalties and interest of not more than 25% and of 5% 0f the levy.
The Report found out that the non-payment of arrears will significantly affect UADF’s ability to sustain services and implement the activities for which it was established.
The Report disclosed further that all mobile network operators and internet service providers are required to submit their Financial Statement to the UADF at the end of every accounting period in order to enable the UADF to calculate levy to be collected from these service providers.
According to the Report some MNOs and ISPs failed to submit their 2021 Annual Financial Statements to the UADF despite numerous requests, adding that in the absence of these Financial Statements, the Auditors could not ascertain the accuracy and completeness of the 2021 revenue disclosed in the UADF Financial Statements.
