Two airlines close offices in Wau over tax
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Eye Radio
The caretaker government of Western Bahr el Ghazal orders the closure of Kush Airlines and Arojet Airlines offices in Wau after their refusal to apply a five-dollar stamp duty per passenger. The measure stems from a dispute over the collection of the tax, according to Voice of Hope cited by Eye Radio.
The Wau offices of Kush Airlines and Arojet Airlines were closed by the caretaker government of Western Bahr el Ghazal State in South Sudan for failing to implement a five-dollar stamp duty on air passengers, Eye Radio reports, citing Wau-based Voice of Hope.
The caretaker Minister of Finance, Planning and Investment, Brigadier General Julio Velario Osman, said on Friday that the levy was being applied on the basis of constitutional provisions. He said Kush Airlines had initially collected the duty before stopping the remittance of the amounts collected to the state government.
Ishaq Mohammed Mustafa, a consultant with the State Revenue Authority, said the five dollars are payable by each passenger and not by the airlines. The levy is based on Article 179 of the national Constitution, which defines the sources of revenue for state governments, and passengers must pay it when purchasing their ticket, according to the Commissioner of the State Revenue Authority, Makuec Deng Madut.
