OBJECTIONS Objection to
assessment.
137. (1) A taxpayer who is dissatisfied with an assessment may file an objection to the assessment with the Commissioner within thirty days of service of the notice of assessment.
(2) The objection shall be in writing and shall specify the grounds upon which it is made, the facts, any point of law at issue and the amount which the taxpayer believes should be assessed on him.
(3) In considering the objection, the Commissioner may require to be produced any books and records and examine any person in accordance with sections 134 and 135.
(4) The Commissioner may allow the objection in whole or in part and amend the assessment accordingly or disallow the objection, and the Commissioner’s decision shall hereinafter be referred to as an
“objection decision”.
(5) The Commissioner shall serve the taxpayer with a copy of the objection decision.
(6) If the Commissioner has not made an objection decision within ninety days of the objection being filed, the taxpayer may give notice in writing to the Commissioner that from the date of the notice he will proceed under subsection (9) as if the Commissioner had disallowed the objection.
(7) A taxpayer who fails to file an objection within the period specified in subsection (1) may—
(a) on payment of the fee specified in paragraph 11 of the Ninth Schedule; and
(b) on production of an affidavit specifying the reasons for the delay,
file with the Commissioner a late objection to an assessment not later than one year after the end of the year of assessment or three months after the notice of assessment, if later.
(8) The Commissioner shall either treat a late objection for all purposes of this Act as if it were made within subsection (1) or issue to the taxpayer his refusal of the late objection.
(9) A taxpayer may, within thirty days of being served with a notice of refusal, file with the Board established under subsection (1) of section 138, a notice of appeal against the refusal and shall serve a copy of such notice on the Commissioner.
INCOME TAX BOARD OF APPELLATE COMMISSIONERS Board of Appellate
Commissioners.
138. (1) There is hereby established a body to be known as the Income Tax Board of Appellate Commissioners (hereinafter referred to as “the Board”).
(2) The Board shall consist of not more than ten persons none of whom is a public officer, but at least one of whom shall be a legal practitioner.
(3) Members of the Board shall be appointed by the President and shall hold office for a term of three years and shall be eligible for re-appointment.
(4) Any appointment under subsection (3) shall be published by Government Notice.
(5) Members of the Board shall receive such remuneration as Parliament may determine.
(6) The Board shall appoint one of its members who is a legal practitioner to be its chairman.
(7) No action, suit, prosecution or any other proceeding may be brought or instituted personally against a person who is or was a member of the Board in respect of any act done or omitted to be done in good faith in the discharge of any function under this Act.
(8) A member of the Board who has a material, pecuniary or other interest which may be in conflict with the proper performance of the member’s functions shall disclose that interest and shall not take part in any hearing of the Board which may be in conflict with such interest unless both parties to the proceeding agree on the member taking part in the hearing.
Secretary to Board.
139. (1) The Board shall have a secretary appointed by the chairman from among the members of the Board.
(2) The secretary shall perform such functions as are provided in this Act or as the chairman of the Board way direct.
Board to hear appeals.
140. (1) The Board shall hear and determine appeals from taxpayers with respect to objection decisions.
(2) An appeal shall be heard by not less than three members of the Board, who shall be nominated by the chairman.
(3) The chairman of the Board shall preside or shall nominate a member of the Board to preside over any hearing.
(4) Subject to sections 141 and 142, the Minister responsible for finance may, by statutory instrument, make rules prescribing the
procedure to be followed in an appeal to the Board.
Procedure of Board.
141. (1) The times and places of the hearings of the Board shall be specified by the chairman so as to secure a reasonable opportunity for taxpayers to appear before the Board with as little inconvenience and expense as is practicable.
(2) The proceedings of the Board shall be conducted in
accordance with the Eighth Schedule and such further rules of practice and procedure as the chairman may specify.
(3) The Board in carrying out its functions under this Act, shall have the powers of the High Court in respect of summoning witnesses, compelling the production of documents, the examination of witnesses abroad and for contempt.
Hearings and decisions.
142. (1) Proceedings of the Board shall be in public unless the chairman directs otherwise.
(2) In all proceedings before the Board, the taxpayer and the Commissioner may be represented by a solicitor or an accountant.
(3) A decision on an appeal shall be made as quickly as practicable and notified to the parties in writing.
(4) A decision of the Board shall be by simple majority and in the event of equality of votes the chairman or other person presiding shall have a casting vote.
(5) The written decision of the Board, including its findings of fact, shall be signed by the chairman or other member of the Board who presided over the hearing.
(6) Subject to subsection (8), the decision of the Board and evidence received by it, including a transcript of the report of the hearings, shall be open to the inspection of the public.
(7) The Board shall provide for the publication of its decisions in such form and manner as may be adapted for public information and use and such authorised publication shall be evidence of the decisions of the Board in all courts of Sierra Leone without any further proof or authentication.
(8) A person who has appealed to the Board may request that documents released under subsection (6) be amended to conceal—
(a) the person’s name; or
(b) aspects of the person’s business or affairs that might reveal the person’s identity.
APPEALS Appeal to the Board.
143. (1) A taxpayer dissatisfied with an objection decision may within thirty days of being served with notice of the objection decision file a notice of appeal with the Board and shall serve a copy of the notice of appeal on the Commissioner.
(2) The secretary shall give not less than fifteen days, notice to the parties of the date fixed for hearing of the appeal.
(3) In an appeal to the Board against an objection decision, the taxpayer shall be limited to the grounds of objection set out in his notice of objection, unless the Board grants the taxpayer leave to add new grounds, in which case the Commissioner shall, if he so requests, be granted an adjournment of not less than fifteen days.
(4) In deciding an appeal, the Board may make an order—
(a) affirming, reducing, increasing or varying the assessment under appeal; or
(b) remitting the assessment for reconsideration by the Commissioner in accordance with the directions or recommendations of the Board.
(5) An order made under subsection (4) may be based on the Board’s conclusions regarding a question of fact or a question of law relevant to the assessment and shall state what those conclusions are.
(6) Subject to the right of the Commissioner to issue an amended assessment under section 103, where no notice of appeal is served within the time permitted by subsection (1), the assessment shall be deemed to be final.
Appeal to the High Court.
144. A party to a proceeding before the Board who is dissatisfied with decision of the Board may, within sixty days of the decision, appeal to the High Court.
Onus on taxpayer.
145. In any objection to an assessment or appeal from an objection decision, the onus shall be on the taxpayer to prove on the balance of probabilities the extent to which the assessment made by the
Commissioner does not correctly reflect the taxpayer’s chargeable income for the year of assessment.