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The batch of petroleum products arrived on August 21, 2023.
The consignment was reportedly shipped to The Gambia by CREED ENERGY and APOGEE, and different bank accounts in Dalasi, Euro and US Dollar were opened at Ecobank and Access Bank.
A total of D654,452,915.45 was deposited into Creed Energy and Apogee Ecobank Dalasi accounts (6240038326), while the Dollar account received a deposit of $532,500 between June 10 and August 29, 2023. Similarly, a total of D544,692,431.55 was deposited into the Access Bank account (001010000555).
The minister was asked how much tax the Gambia Revenue Authority collected from the shipment.
Responding to the question, he explained, “If the OMC takes the product from the godown, then all taxes ranging from VAT on petroleum import, petroleum import duty, excise duty on petroleum import, petroleum fuel tax, PURA charges, freight parking charges, motor vehicle and road tax are calculated before the product comes into existence.”
“In view of the special regime in the petroleum sector, all taxes are calculated based on the uplift of OMCs and are payable between 25th and 31st of every month.”
“All taxes have been paid on the product. The supplier of APOGEE is established in Dubai, UAE and has no business activities in The Gambia prior to this transaction; therefore it is outside our tax jurisdiction,” the minister said.
“Also, income from being a supplier of international goods is not taxable as the product is not taxable income in The Gambia.”
He further explained that as a registered entity in The Gambia, OMC is liable to pay corporate income tax on its income during the financial year. “Trading profit is the income of OMC from oil trading which is calculated as part of the entity’s income at the end of the financial year.”
He explained: “Both GREED Energy and Ultimate Beach Gambia Limited, as companies incorporated in The Gambia, are subject to their respective taxes, in particular corporate income tax.”
“We believe, based on the facts and evidence before us, that these funds should be treated as trust funds and remitted back to the supplier as a mechanism to mitigate the supplier’s risk in the particular circumstances.”
“Following the report received from the Financial Intelligence Unit, the GRA placed the two companies under surveillance in relation to their business activities and obligations to file annual tax returns and assessments and pay taxes.”
They have all been urged to file their tax returns and they have all appealed to the GRA management to give them time to sort out their accounts and pay their assessments for this year.”
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