VP Igga says over 40 oil companies implicated in $1.5 billion tax evasion saga  

JUBA – South Sudan’s Vice President for Economic Cluster Dr. James Wani Igga has said that over 40 oil companies in the world’s youngest country have been implicated in tax evasion saga that has cost the government at least $1.5 billion for the past ten years.

“We have exempted 40 of them and out of those 5,000, 50 companies we discovered and uncovered that unpaid PIT amounting to 1.5 billion U.S dollar just in the period of ten years,” Wani said during the launching of the country’s first oil licensing round in Juba.

Igga said this amount was supposed to be used for service delivery.

“The service companies are carrying out their activities but most of them have never pay personal income taxes (PIT) since the independence in 2011,” he said.

Last week, the cabinet disclosed that oil companies operating in South Sudan have failed to remit to the government $3.3 billion in cost recovery.

The money was accrued between 2011 when the country got independence and 2018.

The government official warned the oil companies against malpractices.

“We are still scrutinizing the remaining over 400 service companies. This is not including the sum of 3.3 billion due to the country from the cost recovery. This amount owed by oil companies are arrears the government,” a government official said.