Only seven out of 700 businesses pay VAT

Only seven out of over 700 active registered businesses that had transactions through Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Volta Region complied with filing their returns to the Value Added Tax (VAT).

They are the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC), South Dayi District Assembly, Kadjebi Directorate of Education, Nurses’ Training Institute-Ho, Hohoe Municipal Hospital, Ho Polyclinic and Labour Department,Ho.

Mr Danso Kyerematen, Volta Regional Head of VAT who said this at a day’s workshop, said filing of such returns was however dependent on undertaking a business venture.

He said the continuous engagement of unregistered businesses and persons by the MDAs and the Assemblies posed a major challenge to the VAT Service revenue mobilisation strategies.

Mr Justice Ebo Crentsil Jnr of tte VAT Service at Ho said unregistered traders collecting VAT from MDAs and the Assemblies and failing to forward such collections to VAT office and their use of fake or unauthorized VAT invoices was an affront to their operations.

He said the use of unauthorized VAT invoices to receive payments for goods and services from MDAs and failure to forward such receipts to the VAT Office by registered traders challenged the institution.

Source: GNA