Liberia - Apply for withholding Tax

Advertisement

Procedure

• The withholding agent is required by the Income Tax Act to pay to Ministry of finance department of Revenue the tax withheld (or that should have been withheld), within 15 days after the end of the month in which the payment was made.
• In the case of a person about to leave Liberia, the tax should be withheld and paid before the payee leaves.
• The agent is further required to maintain and avail for inspection by Ministry of finance department of Revenue, records of all payments to the payee(s) and the corresponding tax withheld for five years after the end of the year of income to which such records relate.
• Upon receiving the payment of tax, Ministry of finance department of Revenue should issue, to the payee a Tax Credit Certificate, setting out the tax withheld. The withholding agent is required to obtain from Ministry of finance department of Revenue and deliver the tax credit certificate to the payee.

Advertisement

Required Documents

• Completed and filed withholding tax registration form
• Tax Identification Number (TIN)
• Identification documents

Office Locations & Contacts

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Broad & Mechlin Sts

Monrovia, Liberia

Hotline: 026-202-543

Eligibility

1. All employee's in Liberia are required to pay withholding Tax.
2. All income from movable capital is withheld for tax.
3. All Foreign companies that has no branch in Liberia are entitled to pay withholding tax
4. All payment deducted from professional service are entitled to a 40% corporate tax.
5. Any company in which the Government of Liberia has interest

Fees

1. You register for free of charge
2. Profit from dividends, executive director's fees, capital interest, and other gains on investments are subject to a 30-percent withholding tax.

Validity

Valid for a year

Documents to Use

Please attach documents that can be used by people. e.g. links

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

7 working days

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type="website">video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the "&" inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver, 
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M" Video ID is "Y0US7oR_t3M". 
	

Instructions

1. The tax is imposed on the net amount after an arbitrary deduction for expenses.
2. Amounts are also withheld on account of taxes due at 10 to 15 percent on the amount payable for professional services, at 3 percent on commercial services and at 10 percent on commissions paid to commercial agents.
3. Employers must withhold the scheduled tax on salaries and wages from their employee's pay.
4. The withholding agent is required to keep the records of payment and withholding for 5 years

Required Information

1. Name
2. Address
3. Marital status
4. Date/Country/place of birth
5. Sources of income
6. Type of business activity
7. Tax agent
8. Referee

Need for the Document

A withholding tax, also called a retention tax, is a government requirement for the payer of an item of income to withhold or deduct tax from the payment, and pay.This tax is a deduction from an employee's income that the employer sends directly to the state tax authorities. Paid by all natural persons who exercise employment or work in Liberia no matter the agency or entity or the kind of work being done or citizens working with the Liberian Government in foreign service. Paid by non-residents natural and legal persons on the Liberia - source income (Chapter 8 RCL)

Dividends distributed by an Liberian company are not subject to withholding tax. The main instances where taxes are withheld are summarized below.

Tax on income derived from moveable capital is withheld in many cases, including payments to a foreign company that has no branch in Liberia and payments to non-resident individuals. Royalties and technical assistance fees paid to a foreign company with no branch in Liberia are normally subject to the 40 percent corporate income tax rate. The tax is imposed on the net amount after an arbitrary deduction for expenses. Amounts are also withheld on account of taxes due at 10 to 15 percent on the amount payable for professional services, at 3 percent on commercial services and at 10 percent on commissions paid to commercial agents. Lastly, employers must withhold the scheduled tax on salaries and wages from their employee's pay.

Information which might help

Enter other informations which might help

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

http://www.pwc.com/us/en/tax-services-multinationals/newsletters/african-newsalert/liberia-reduced-withholding-tax-rates-mining.jhtml

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/liberia/paying-taxes

http://www.knowyourcountry.com/liberia3.html

Others

More information which might help people.