Officials of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in Kumasi on Tuesday, August 28 2018 embarked on an exercise to sensitise taxpayers in the Ashanti Region to meet the tax amnesty deadline of Friday, August 31 2018.

The Tax Amnesty Act, 2017 (Act 955) passed by Parliament in December 2017 gives taxpayers and potential taxpayers, who have defaulted in the four basic requirements, the opportunity to pay taxes.

The four include the registration with GRA, filing of tax returns, paying taxes promptly and making full disclosure on financial reporting.

The law seeks to improve voluntary tax compliance, open GRA’s tax net and offer the opportunity for all taxpayers and potential taxpayers who have defaulted to fulfil their obligation voluntarily without being penalized or prosecuted.

The Chief Revenue Officer for Adum Tax Office, Isaac Minuax Quaye, stated that the tax amnesty was available to persons who have registered with GRA but have not submitted all their returns or amended returns.

According to him, a previously unregistered person who registers with the GRA before September 30, 2018 and files income tax returns for 2014, 2015 and 2016 also qualifies.

He, however, stated that to benefit from the tax amnesty, persons who have registered with the Authority previously but have not submitted all previous returns or made full disclosure of all liabilities in previous years of assessment are required to submit all outstanding returns or amended returns with full details.

Speaking on the topic, ‘VAT Withholding,’ Michael Acheampong, the Revenue Officer for Asokwa Small Tax Office (STO), said it’s a scheme that involves the declaration of VAT by the supplier and withholding VAT agent.

He said, “WHVAT (VAT Withholding) is a mechanism to account for and pay VAT on the supply of goods and services by the person making the payment. Commissioner-General appoints Withholding VAT agents to withhold a portion of VAT on payments made to a VAT registered supplier and then the agent remits to GRA.”

In his remarks, Assistant Commissioner of the GRA, Samuel Sakyi Duodu, who chaired the programme, called on Ghanaians to pay their taxes regularly.

He said taxpayers are nation builders and for that matter all should endeavour to contribute towards the development of Ghana by honouring their tax obligations.

“Citizens all over the world pay taxes to build their nations, the more taxes citizens pay, the more revenue for the government to accelerate socio-economic development across the country,” he said.

Samuel Sakyi Duodu encouraged all business owners to register with GRA to obtain Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) to enable them to pay their taxes for proper accountability and development.