MONROVIA — Liberia's national tax revenue system is riddled with hundreds of millions of dollars in unreconciled transactions, unauthorized bank withdrawals, fraudulent reversals, and systemic record-keeping failures spanning more than six years, according to a scathing audit report released by the General Auditing Commission in April.
The report, signed by Auditor General P. Garswa Jackson Sr. and transmitted to the Legislature, covers the government's management of tax revenue collected through transitory bank accounts and consolidated accounts at the Central Bank of Liberia from July 1, 2018 to December 31, 2024.
The audit found that US$257,512,276 and L$23,633,186,485 recorded in government transitory bank accounts at commercial banks could not be traced to the General Revenue Account at the Central Bank of Liberia. In the reverse direction, US$165,783,464 and L$10,958,454,428 recorded in the General Revenue Account could not be traced back to the transitory accounts. When auditors reconciled the total figures, the variances amounted to US$91,803,427 and L$12,674,732,056.
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The breakdowns do not stop there. Revenue receipts totaling US$1,789,395,225.27 and L$54,303,473,470.90 recorded in the Liberia Revenue Authority's Tax Administration System could not be traced to the General Revenue Account. Going the other way, US$1,372,238,195.59 and L$68,392,483,222.46 recorded in the General Revenue Account could not be matched to any entry in the Tax Administration System. The cumulative variance across both directions reached US$373,919,113.26 and L$16,746,210,284.90.
The LRA collects taxes and deposits them into temporary accounts at commercial banks, which are then required by memoranda of understanding to transfer those funds to the government's consolidated account at the Central Bank within 24 hours on any business day. The audit found that not one commercial bank consistently met this deadline over the six-year review period. The average transfer time ranged from three days at Access Bank to 24 days at Ecobank, with Global/Bloom Bank averaging 21 days and UBA averaging 10 days.
The report details unauthorized withdrawals of US$59,786.14 and L$551,773.87 from the transitory accounts, categorized by auditors as transactions that do not match any approved debit category. It notes that these included entries described in bank records as "school fee deducted, suspended fees payment, online transfers, etc," transactions that should never have accessed accounts meant solely for government tax revenue.
Auditors also flagged negative debits totaling US$301,220.36 and L$67,250,268.08 posted to the transitory accounts. These transactions could not be traced to any initial entry, nor was any documentation provided to indicate they were corrections of prior postings.
The problems extend into the customs system. Auditors found that bills reconciled to payments in ASYCUDA, the automated system for customs data, produced variances of US$63,909,730.95, and that some payments in the system carried no receipt numbers at all. At the same time, auditors said they could not reconcile total bills to payments recorded in the Liberia Integrated Tax Administration System because the currency denomination for assessment transactions in that system could not be determined.
Revenue recorded in ASYCUDA showed further discrepancies when compared to the Tax Administration System. Receipts totaling US$26,041,500.82 recorded in ASYCUDA could not be traced to the Tax Administration System, while US$68,596,567.82 in the Tax Administration System could not be found in ASYCUDA. Compounding the problem, auditors found numerous receipts posted with identical receipt numbers but carrying different payment amounts across the two systems.
At rural customs and tax collectorates, conditions were worse. Auditors found no evidence that ASYCUDA or LITAS automated revenue reporting software had been expanded or operationalized at rural collection points. Tax bills were being raised manually, payments accepted in cash and held by collectors for extended periods before being deposited in bulk as single transactions, making individual reconciliation impossible.
The report found reversals posted to transitory accounts amounting to US$16,069,067.54 and L$501,318,122.11 that could not be traced to the original transactions they purportedly corrected. Similarly, reversals in the General Revenue Account totaled US$37,493,195.81 and L$1,910,968,903.27 that could not be reconciled to initial entries.
The auditors also found that transitory accounts at commercial banks carried unswept balances of US$898,563.12 and L$60,767,609.75 as of Jan. 1, 2024, and that those balances had not been fully cleared by year's end, standing at US$574,765.61 and L$58,978,088.48 as of Dec. 31, 2024. The accounts remained open at the time the audit was completed, in violation of financial regulations requiring their closure at the end of each fiscal year.
Commercial banks charged the transitory accounts fees in excess of the US$30 monthly maintenance charge authorized under their agreements with the LRA, accumulating excess charges of US$51,410.46 and L$1,577,071.41 across the audit period.
During the audit, several banks and mobile money operators failed to provide statements requested by auditors, including Bloom Bank, Lonestar Communication Corporation and Orange Liberia Limited. The auditors said the refusal to produce records prevented them from assessing the completeness and accuracy of revenue collected through those accounts.
The report also identified irregularities in the ASYCUDA receipt numbering system. Transactions totaling US$958,914,638.58 carried duplicated receipt numbers assigned to different transactions. Separately, transactions worth US$833,824,561.42 had no receipt numbers at all, and US$3,066,054 in payments carried receipt numbers but no taxpayer identification numbers.
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The auditors found no written policy framework governing revenue reconciliation responsibilities among the three institutions at the center of the system -- the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, the Liberia Revenue Authority and the Central Bank of Liberia.
The Ministry of Finance, LRA and Central Bank each responded to the findings, arguing in several instances that variances resulted from timing differences, bulk sweep transfers, or system architecture. The auditors rejected most of those explanations, noting that management's assertions were not supported by reconciliation reports and that the variances persisted regardless of the methodology applied.
Finance Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, who took office in September 2024, received the audit letter addressed directly to him in his capacity as minister. The audit covers a period that also falls under his predecessors, Boima S. Kamara, who served through July 2024, and Samuel D. Tweah Jr., who served through December 2023.
Auditor General Jackson urged both chambers of the Legislature to treat implementation of the report's recommendations as urgent, citing what he described as the pervasive impact of the findings on the government's ability to manage public revenue with accuracy and accountability.
