OVER 300 YARDS OWNERS  IN WESTERN REGION  ACCUSE OF TAX  EVASION

OVER 300 YARD OWNERS  IN WESTERN REGION  ACCUSE OF TAX  EVASION

BY WISE MAN
Over 300 compound owners in  Western Region are presently in hot waters for failing to settle their compound rates and taxes, the Freedom Newspaper can authoritatively reveal.
According to a top-level official at the  Brikama Area Council(BAC), 'these' yard owners who  have been accused of not paying their compound rates for the past 20 years, will soon  be arraigned before a magistrates' court in Brikama to answer charges levelled against them and if found guilty they might spend long years behind bars.
 Lamin Jatta,  a senior rates and tax collector at BAC told our correspondent  that BAC lately carried out an aggressive  tax collection exercise  within its jurisdiction  , adding that it was during the exercise  that they discovered  that over 300 yard owners have not been paying their compound rates.
"We have been sensitizing people on the need to pay their compound rates on time but to no avail. In fact, some have now made it a game to evade taxes. This is why we deemed it necessary  to institute legal action against anyone found wanting so that it would seem as an eye opener for would-be defaulters," he pointed out.
 The Public Relations Officer  of BAC , Serign  Modou Faye added  that his institution  will no longer tolerate this kind of hanky-panky deal, saying, " now we will  show zero tolerance  to  anyone who fails to settle his or her compound rate. They should know  that the Council uses these monies to provide them with much- needed social amenities such as schools and hospitals.  Everyone is complaining that they need good roads and the only way to have good roads is by paying our taxes.  Would you imagine how small tax is but yet still people would fail to pay it and when you question them, they will respond by saying that the country is hard. But  since they don't want to cooperate with us we will allow the law to take it course .If  they fail to pay voluntarily the law will force them to pay by force," he concluded.