Section 3: The Income Tax Act, 2000 is amended-

(a) in section 13, by renumbering the existing section as subsection (1) thereof and inserting immediately thereafter the following:- “(2) A permanent establishment of a non-resident person in Sierra Leone shall be treated as a resident legal person with respect to the business carried out by that permanent establishment in Sierra Leone. (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), the permanent establishment of a non-resident person in Sierra Leone is, unless otherwise stated, the establishment through which it carries out business activities in full or in part, including activities carried out through an agent, for a period of no less than 182 days during the tax year.”; (b) by inserting in section 2 thereof the following definition:- “permanent establishment” includes the following:- (a) a branch office of a non-resident legal person; (b) construction sites, assembly or batching facilities and the exercise of supervisory activities connected with such facilities; (c) sites, drilling equipment or ships used for prospecting for natural resources as well as the exercise of supervisory activities connected with such facilities; (d) a place used by a non-resident individual for business activity”. (c) in section 32 thereof– (i) in subsection (3) by substituting a semi-colon for the full-stop at the end of paragraph (s) thereof, and inserting immediately thereafter the following:- “(t) donations towards good causes.”; and (ii) inserting after subsection (4) thereof the following:- “(5) In paragraph (t) of subsection (3), the expression “donations towards good causes” refers to donations made in respect of community development programmes, charitable giving and sponsorship of sports, educational and health programmes”; (d) by the repeal and replacement of section 97 thereof by the following:- 97. (1) Subject to section 98, a taxpayer or nominated officer of a partnership or trust, shall file a return of income for each year of assessment and make arrangements to pay any balance of tax thereon not later than ninety days after the end of that year. 2 3 Amendment of Act No. 6 of 1982. Amendment of Act No. 8 of 2000. “Filing of return of income. (2) The return of income shall – (a) be in the form; (b) state the information; and (c) be filed, as prescribed by the Commissioner-General. (3) The return of income shall be accompanied by– (a) in the case of a person carrying on business in Sierra Leone with annual turnover of not less than three hundred million leones, a set of accounts certified by a firm of chartered accountants recognized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sierra Leone and accepted by the Commissioner-General; (b) in the case of a non-governmental organization (NGO) or an exempt organization under section 9, annual accounts and withholding tax compliance returns; (c) in the case of a person carrying on business in Sierra Leone with annual turnover of less than three hundred million leones but not less than two hundred million leones, copies of the annual accounts.”. (e) by the insertion immediately after subsection (6) of section 117 thereof, of the following:- “(7) Non-governmental organizations shall file annual withholding tax returns showing their full compliance with this section.”; (f) in section 101, by the repeal and replacement of subsection (1) thereof by the following:– 101 (1) Subject to subsection (2) and section 104A, where a taxpayer has filed a return of income and the Commissioner-General has decided not to determine the amount of income in accordance with section 70, the Commissioner-General shall make an ordinary assessment of the tax payable and notify the taxpayer of any amount owned or overpaid”; (g) by the insertion immediately after section 104 thereof of the following new section:- 104A (1) A taxpayer makes a self-assessment of income where, in any year of assessment, the Commissioner-General decides to use the return of income filed by him as notice of his tax liability for that year of assessment. (2) Where a taxpayer has filed a self-assessment return of income for a year of assessment, the Commissioner-General shall be deemed to have made an assessment of the chargeable income of the taxpayer and the tax payable on that chargeable income for that year shall be the amounts shown respectively in the return. (3) Where subsection (2) applies, the taxpayer’s return of income is treated as a notice of an assessment served on the taxpayer by the Commissioner-General on the due date for filing the return or on the actual date the return was filed, whichever is the later. (4) Notwithstanding subsection (2), the Commissioner- General may make an assessment under section 101 on a taxpayer in any case in which the Commissioner-General considers necessary. (5) Where the Commissioner-General makes an assessment in accordance with subsection (4), the Commissioner-General shall include with the assessment a statement of reasons as to why the Commissioner-General considered it necessary to make such an assessment”; (h) in section 137 thereof, by the repeal and replacement of subsection (6) thereof by the following:– 4 5 “Ordinary deemed and special assessments. “Self-assessment. offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of not less than Le10,000,000 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding one year or to both”; (k) in section 150, by the repeal and replacement of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) thereof by the following:- “(a) Le2,000,000, plus”; (l) in the Ninth Schedule– (a) in paragraph 11, by the repeal and replacement of Le10,000 by Le1,000,000; (b) in paragraph 12, by the deletion of section 150 and the maximum fine of Le50,000, stated in relation thereto.