Tax Revenue and Economic Growth of Sierra Leone

Abstract

The positive trend in world economic growth can be attributed to differential growth across the world. The Republic of Sierra Leone is one of the countries in the emerging sub-Saharan African region. Despite Africa’s growth prospects, the region is still one of the global hubs of poverty. This study examined the effect of tax revenue and economic growth of Sierra Leone for the period 1987-2017. This study adopted the ex-post facto design. Data relating to revenues from different tax components and GDP were collected for the years 1987-2017. The study concluded that tax revenue has significant effect on the economic growth of Sierra Leone, although Companies Income Tax (CIT), Custom Excise Duties (CED) and Road Taxes have not contributed positively to economic growth of this nation over the period of study. The intent of government with such tax should be communicated to the general public. In so doing, a separate body should be set up to inspect and ensure that the funds generated by government through tax at each level of government is properly used and any level of government that fails to utilise such taxes as communicated to the public should be charged to court.