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of the Ministry of Finance whilst its conclusions and
recommendations are worthy of the same consideration in 1978 as
they were nearly ten years earlier. This is also applicable to
the survey of Liberia's Tax Administration, but here there is no
reason to repeat recommendations made by earlier reports.
It is interesting to note, however, that Shoup et al. reported
that with respect to Income Taxes no record could be found of
any income having been subjected to the marginal income tax rate
of over 25% applicable to taxable income, i.e. after deduction of
the statutory exemption, of over $ 50,000.00. Only two tax payers
had reported a taxable income of between $ 20,000 and I 50,000
and paid accordingly (58). Ten years later an investigation
conducted by an I.M.F. mission revealed that in 1977/78 only 9
people in the private sector had reported earnings over $ 18,000
(59). Also personal investigation into the files of the Bureau
of Internal Revenues of the Ministry of Finance in Monrovia
showed numerous cases of apparent fraudulent tax behaviour.
Although official files and records in Liberia do not carry the
same weight as they do in other places the conclusions are clear.
A last major potential source of domestic revenues is formed by
taxes on property (real estate taxes and realty lease taxes).
Collections, however, have been far below the legal obligations
of real estate owners. The main reason for this poor performance
is that these property-owners simply refuse to pay, while poor
record keeping and the lack of honest and qualified staff in the
Ministry of Finance makes it easier for them to persist in this
attitude (60). Though Shoup et al. refused to study this problem
in depth because of the social and political character of this
tax it was nevertheless concluded that
"(...) Moreover, in a context where any vigorous attempts
to enforce the payment of the property taxes are inhibited
by political considerations, it is hardly surprising that
the maintenance of an up-to-date and full-valued assesment
roll has not been given the attention that would be required
to give full effect of the property tax" (61).
This negative attitude of the tax payer is also the cause of one
of the main problems of a major public corporation, the Liberia
Electricity Corporation. As of early 1978 L.E.C. had outstanding
bills amounting to over $ 7 million. Many of its (non-paying)
customers are respectable citizens who, as is the case with noncompliance
with real estate tax, simply refuse to honour their
obligations. As a result the financial situation of L.E.C. -
already poor - was further weakened and this contributed to an
increase in the overall deficits of the Government's fiscal
operations. This is worthy of note in view of the fact that the
Government borrowed $ 60,000,000.00 in 1977/1978 to strenghten
the public corporations which with the notable exceptions of the
National Port Authority and the Liberian Produce Marketing
Corporation all operated at large losses during the mid-1970's.