The Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) has officially launched its Taxpayers Appreciation Week with a generous donation of food and non-food items to the Peter Sayklon Orphanage in Bong Mine, Margibi County. The orphanage, found to be in a destitute situation cares for nearly 100 children, many of whom are orphaned or come from single-parent households.
This donation is part of the LRA’s corporate social responsibility efforts aimed at supporting vulnerable communities, particularly women and children, who are often the most impacted by poverty and lack of resources. The items donated included several bags of 25kg rice, mattresses, sanitary pads, clothes, slippers, sneakers, detergents, and other essential sanitary materials. On Wednesday, LRA Deputy Commissioner General for Technical Services, Gabriel Montgomery, made the donation on behalf of Commissioner General James DorborJallah. Montgomery emphasized that this donation reflects the LRA’s ongoing commitment to giving back to underprivileged Liberians and providing support to vulnerable groups, especially women and children. “This donation is a direct way of channeling taxpayers’ resources back into the hands of those who need them most, particularly women and children who are often the most vulnerable,” Deputy Commissioner Montgomery stated. “LRA is proud of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, which aims to empower underprivileged communities and improve the lives of those who are often forgotten by society.” He also praised the orphanage’s administrators for their tireless efforts in nurturing and caring for the future generation of Liberia. “The work you are doing here is invaluable. The children in this orphanage represent the future of our country, and it’s heartening to see the love and care you provide them,” Montgomery added. Responding to the donation, Madam Martha Sayklon, head of the orphanage, expressed her heartfelt gratitude. With tears of joy, she thanked the LRA for their timely and impactful support. She described the donation as “selfless and a true demonstration of love for humanity at the highest level,” acknowledging the significant positive effect the donation will have on the lives of the children, especially the girls, who will now have access to vital sanitary products. This year’s Taxpayers Appreciation Week is being celebrated under the theme: “Moving to Billions, Celebrating Taxpayers Impact.” As part of the week’s events, the LRA will host the first-ever National Student Tax Day on Thursday, followed by the Taxpayers Appreciation and Awards Ceremony on Friday, where more than 100 taxpayers will be honored. The week will conclude with an all-day sports festival on Saturday at Invincible Park in Monrovia. At the same time, the Liberia Revenue Authority has honored several Taxpayers across Liberia for being complaint towards their tax obligations over the last two years. Speaking at the National Taxpayers appreciation ceremony, the Commissioner General of the LRA, Dorbor Jallah, hailed complaint Taxpayers for their significant role played to the Revenue envelope of the Country. Mr. Jallah said in a drive to help further patch up the leakages in the Revenue collection system of the Country, there is a need for all parties to work together for the betterment of the Country. He stressed that most of the revenue generated by the LRA goes towards recurrence expenditure as such, there is a need to expand the domestic Revenue based of the Country through technology. ” In order to move to billions, we need to move towards technology and this will help us experience sustainable development, ” he emphasized. As a means of implementing such, the LRA head encouraged taxpayers and Liberians in general to embrace the Value Added Tax, VAT. It can be recalled that the Value Added Tax Law was passed into Law by members of the National Legislature as full implementation is expected soon. “We are among one or two Countries that are yet to implement VAT, we need to work faster, play check and make this work”, he told the gathering. With the VAT, Jallah informed the gathering that it will help remove lots of problems and challenges associated with the Goods and Services Tax, GST. Providing further benefits of the VAT, Mr. Jallah stated that it also helps promote transparency as well as improving Tax compliance of other tax kind. Under the VAT, taxes paid will be reclaimed along the value chain, he disclosed. According to him, in two years’ time after the roll out of the VAT, there will be a greater compliance level .”Let’s work together and embrace technology in order to move to billions, ” he re-emphasized. VAT, he indicated, is now practiced globally and it is time that Liberia does same. Jallah acknowledged that there are challenges but over time, the LRA is working to improve it, making quick reference to digitization. ” We want to ultimate most of our processes to make it seamless,” he noted. He assured the gathering that the LRA will install its electronic fiscal devices especially for service oriented and merchandise businesses. The focus, among other things, is to ensure that it is seamless both for Taxpayers and the LRA, he further assured the gathering. “Work with us, let’s work together to ensure that we install the technology to make our work much easier, it is going to give us greater transparency, ” he added. Meanwhile, several individuals and institutions at the National Taxpayers appreciation ceremony walked away with prizes and certificates to include: Arcelormittal Liberia, Firestone Liberia, Bea Mountain Mining Company, Ecobank Liberia, The Catholic Educational Secretariat, Lonestar MTN, Fouita Corporation, Orange Liberia, Vice President Jeremiah Kpan-Koung, among others.
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