Payroll guide · Sierra Leone
Everything an employer needs to run compliant payroll in Sierra Leone — PAYE bands, statutory deductions, the computation order, filing deadlines and the mistakes that most often surface in an audit.
Sierra Leonean payroll rests on two pillars — PAYE to the NRA and NASSIT social security — with an unusually employer-heavy contribution split: the employer pays twice what the employee does.
This guide covers the progressive PAYE structure, NASSIT at 5% and 10%, the Skills Development Levy, and the shared filing deadline that governs both remittances.
The figures below are compiled from public guidance and are correct to the best of our research at the time of writing. Sierra Leone rates change with each budget cycle, and published sources sometimes disagree. Confirm against the National Revenue Authority (NRA) before running a live payroll.
Payroll obligations in Sierra Leone are administered by the National Revenue Authority (NRA), alongside the social security and levy bodies set out below. Every employer is responsible for computing deductions correctly, remitting them on time and retaining the records — the obligation sits with the employer, not the employee, and it does not transfer to a bookkeeper or an accountant.
| Chargeable income (SLE) | Rate |
|---|---|
| First 600 | 0% |
| Next band | 15% |
| Next band | 20% |
| Top band | 30% |
Monthly chargeable income in new leones (SLE). The first SLE 600 is exempt. Band thresholds above the exempt amount vary between published sources — confirm the current table with the NRA before running payroll.
| Deduction | Employee | Employer | Rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| NASSIT | 5% | 10% | 15% in total on covered earnings, remitted to the National Social Security and Insurance Trust. |
| Skills Development Levy | — | Employer | Collected by the NRA. Confirm the current rate and threshold. |
Our free calculator applies every deduction on this page — including lower earnings limits and relief caps — and shows the PAYE working band by band.
Open the Sierra Leone calculator| Relief | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tax-free amount | SLE 600/month | The first SLE 600 of monthly salary is exempt. |
Getting the order right matters more than getting any single rate right. Applying a deduction after the bands instead of before it changes the tax for every employee on the payroll.
PAYE is withheld at source on taxable employment income using the progressive rates, after the exempt amount. NASSIT is calculated on covered earnings at 5% from the employee and 10% from the employer. The employer deducts the employee portion, adds its own, and remits the combined amount to NASSIT.
An employee on SLE 5,000 gross:
Employer cost on top of gross: NASSIT at 10% (500.00) — a total cost of employment of SLE 5,500.00, before the Skills Development Levy.
| When | What is due |
|---|---|
| By the 15th of the following month | PAYE remitted to the NRA |
| By the 15th | NASSIT employee and employer contributions remitted |
| Monthly | Employer return detailing gross pay, deductions and contributions per employee |
| By 31 March | Annual PAYE return summarising emoluments and tax withheld |
Both the NRA and NASSIT apply penalties and interest for late filing and late payment, and each may impose additional administrative penalties. Because both fall due on the 15th, a single missed deadline usually means two penalties rather than one.
These are the errors that turn up most often when a manual payroll is reviewed.
Our ROI calculator prices what manual payroll actually costs — the days lost at month-end, the leave nobody recorded, and the statutory penalty exposure you are already carrying.
Open the ROI calculator15% of covered earnings in total — 5% from the employee and 10% from the employer. The employer deducts the employee share and remits the combined amount.
By the 15th of the month following the payroll period. NASSIT contributions share the same deadline.
Progressive rates of 0%, 15%, 20% and 30%, with the first SLE 600 of monthly salary exempt. Confirm the current band thresholds with the NRA.
There is presently no separate nationwide statutory health deduction for private-sector employees. Employers commonly provide private medical cover instead.
SLE 800 a month is widely referenced for the private sector on a forty-hour week, though sector collective agreements may set higher floors.
Yes. All employees must be registered, and it is the employer's responsibility to ensure registration is completed.
CromaHR computes every deduction on this page automatically, with rates that are effective-dated — so a retrospective run uses the rates in force for that period rather than today's. Returns are generated in the formats the National Revenue Authority (NRA) actually accepts, and every run leaves a complete audit trail.
Because the platform was designed by a Certified Internal Auditor, the controls came first: maker-checker approval on payroll runs, role-based permissions, and a record of every change showing who made it, when, and what the value was before and after.
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