The Chief Revenue Officer of Ghana Revenue Authority Welbeck Asare Asamoah has maintained that the GRA is the only authorized government establishment mandated to issue Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), without which one cannot do business with some listed government agencies.

The Taxpayer Identification Number is an eleven digit number which came into force through the Revenue Administration Act 2016 (Act 915). It gives all taxpayers and persons who transact official business with some listed organizations that require a TIN the opportunity to carry out such transactions seamlessly.

Asare Asamoah speaking on Yensempa, a morning show on Onua FM hosted by Bright Akwasi Asempa, said it is important to have a TIN to prevent obstacles when dealing with any Institution in the country.

He explained that it is free to acquire a TIN and the process is for every citizen above 18 years to visit any GRA office and pick up a form and register for one.

According to him, there is a guideline attached to the form which directs one to fill the form with ease. He said upon submitting the form one must include the ID they provided on the form to authenticate it so as to establish that ID numbers filled are same with the one brought upon submission.

The Chief Revenue Officer said companies need to acquire TIN even before registering their companies. He said each TIN is uniquely different from another.

He maintained that without TIN nobody can access or do business with the following government establishments from April 1, 2018 under the law: Ghana Revenue Authority, Controller and Accountant General, Registrar General, Registrar of Corporative, Lands Title Registration, Immigration, Passport, Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority, Courts, MMDAs, MMDCs, Banks, Insurance Companies.

He added that the acquisition of passport, driver’s license, land certificate, filing court cases and other similar transactions would require that one has a TIN.

Providing more education on the TIN and the backing regulation, Asare Asamoah said the TIN as a requirement in the listed services has been a law since 2012 but will be enforced this year. He mentioned that all company TIN begins with C while individuals’ starts with a P and it is expected that all qualified persons acquire their TINs by April 1.

Meanwhile, some callers on the Morning Show have appealed to the GRA to properly decentralize the process of TIN acquisition to make it accessible to the ordinary Ghanaian. They complained that it is a waste of time and resources to travel far just to acquire a TIN.