GRA retrieves over GH¢50m from 801 unregistered taxpayers
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) says it was able to retrieve GH¢50.1 million between 2015 and 2016 from 801 taxpayers who had refused to register with the authority.
These tax payers had businesses in operation but did not register with the Authority to avoid paying taxes. They were however, discovered and registered leading to the mobilization of the GH¢50.1 million.
Speaking at a press briefing at the GRA Headquarters in Accra, Mr Henry Sam, the National Compliance Coordinator of the GRA, noted that when taxpayers refuse to register and honour tax payments and are found out, they are made to pay from the day the company started operating.
Mr Sam said, “the Special Revenue Mobilisation Task Force has written letters to MDAs, MMDAs and other private organisations to furnish us with transactions on their customers/clients. The list provided would be used to ascertain the accuracy or otherwise of the relevant taxes due the state.”
He said GRA’s primary focus in 2017 will be on intelligence led tax compliance checks, adding that, “we have written to some of the ministries to provide us with information on suppliers and when we get these information we will launch checks to ascertain how much some of these companies should pay as tax”
GRA as part of its main agenda in 2017 will launch deeper investigations into the mining companies and its suppliers, he pointed out.
He further said that in cases where companies or orgnisations do not have accurate or satisfactory records, the tax force and tax officers will use their best judgment to determine the percentage of tax to be paid.
He entreated all businesses to voluntarily approach the Tax Offices to regularize their tax affairs by making full disclosures of their income, declare all incomes received for work done on the Tax Returns and pay the relevant taxes due the Authority without default.
By Pamela Ofori-Boateng
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