ATAF discusses tax evasion in Accra

A five-day seminar on tax evasion and avoidance in Value Added Tax systems opened in Accra on Monday.
It was meant to sharpen the skills of audit practitioners.

The seminar which was held under the auspices of the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) and the Ghana Revenue Authority, also aimed at expanding the knowledge of participants on how to detect and deter non-compliant taxpayers by carrying out effective, efficient and quality risk-based audits on VAT systems.

Mr Anthony Minlah, Commissioner in-charge of  the Support Services Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, who read a speech on behalf of the Commissioner-General, Mr George Blankson, said there was too much tax avoidance schemes by taxpayers, and that the training was necessary to curtail such negative practices.

He said voluntary compliance in tax payments on the continent was one of the lowest and encouraged the participants to enhance their professionalism and help build effective tax systems.

Mr Blankson said the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) had over the past three years exceeded its revenue targets due to the support from government and some development partners including GIZ, GCNet and other corporate bodies, as well as the staff.

He urged tax payers to support the GRA by paying their taxes promptly, and appealed to them to spare the Authority the agony of resorting to drastic action before they ran to honour their tax obligations.

Source: GNA