Liberia: LRA Should Expand Tax Horizon

Late last year, Boima Kamara, Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) admitted on a local radio talk show that the country has plunged into recession. He noted the weakness and undervalue of the Liberian dollar, high prices of basic local commodities and the drop in international trade as upshot of the collapse. However, he was optimistic that policies and strategies being devised by his Ministry and relevant agencies would obviously change the course. I believed him!

While I emphasize the dirge of Liberians currently facing increase in taxes on commodities such as water, alcoholic beverages, etc., as part of government's tactics to mitigate the economic down trend, let me opine that these policy measures are genuinely intended to stabilize the Liberian economy. When customs and international trade are challenged by geo-economic, technological, social and political factors, domestic taxation is the way to go. This is why I think the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) should expand its tax horizon and revenue scouting into other sectors, Power and Electricity for instance.

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