GRA targets more companies,  Over tax non-compliance

According to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), through its ongoing VAT enforcement operation in the Greater Accra Region, it has discovered a number of companies that are breaking the law regarding taxes.

The task force learned through the VAT enforcement activity that many companies had not registered with the government, and those that had registered were either not issuing VAT invoices or were selective in their issuing.

As a result, the GRA has stated that it will step up its enforcement efforts to make firms that aren’t paying their taxes comply with the law.

After one of the enforcement exercises, Assistant Commissioner Joseph Annan, head of the GRA’s Accra Central Enforcement Unit, told journalists in Accra: “What that indicates is that we have to undertake a lot more compliance inspections.

Businesses operating in the nation that have disobeyed tax rules or registration requirements “will be forced to do the right thing,” he added.

Enforcement

The GRA has increased tax compliance and enforcement activities since June of this year in an effort to fulfill its goal of collecting GH106 billion for 2023, which would represent a 40% increase year over year.

The authority had stated that it would fully automate its operations and use technology to collect income as part of the methods it would take to reach this goal.

In the most recent exercise, the team visited 10 businesses in the municipalities of La Nkwantanang and Adentan as part of the VAT enforcement exercise.

Personnel from the Ghana Police Service’s Criminal Investigation Department were also a component of the task group.

Invitation

As part of measures to ensure voluntary compliance with tax regulations, all of the managers of the numerous enterprises visited were invited to assist the GRA with investigations connected to the non-issue and selective issuance of VAT receipts.

Businesses are required to constantly provide VAT bills to their customers under Value Added Tax Act Section 41.

A violation of the legislation is equivalent to not adhering to its requirements, and it is also illegal for clients to purchase items that are subject to VAT without receiving an invoice.

Long-term focus

According to Mr. Annan, the authority has put in place a number of steps to ensure that all tax regulations are followed to the fullest extent possible.

In order to achieve comprehensive tax compliance, the task force, according to him, had expanded its mission beyond VAT enforcement.

Since we need to consider various tax types in order to reach the goal, we are not yet restricted to VAT.

VAT is included in taxes, and we will examine all applicable taxes for each taxpayer we meet.

We are not only focusing on VAT in this operation, he added.

Accordingly, he stated that the task force now thoroughly examines taxpayers to determine their eligibility for various tax categories.

“We want to improve our tax collection operations in this way.

It is not just about complying with VAT.

Following all tax categories is important, he said.

In order for the GRA to reach its income collection goal, he urged support from the public and cooperation since “every taxpayer must contribute to build the nation.”

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