Joseph Annan, Area Enforcement Manager of Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), in charge of Accra Central, has advised businesses to honour their tax obligations.

He indicated several business owners are defaulting in their taxes and are not complying with the electronic Value Added Tax (VAT) system as expected.

He made the remarks while addressing journalists on Thursday, February 2, 2023, after the GRA arrested five branch managers of Koala (Osu and Cantonments) branches, Max Mart (37 and Cantonments) branches and the Palace Shopping Mall, Labone branch.

Except for the Palace Mall which was faulted for issuing duplicate signatures of the Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, the rest evaded the electronic Value Added Tax (VAT) system.

The five branch managers were sent to the Customs headquarters for their statements and then handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Police.

The initiative is part of an ongoing nationwide VAT inspection exercise to ensure tax compliance and retrieve taxes due the state.

In his submission, Mr. Annan noted that t
he GRA has embarked on several exercises to ensure businesses comply with the law but some have refused to do it.

He said Section 41 of the VAT Act 2013, (Act 870) as amended by Act 1082 and Act 1087, states that every registered VAT taxpayer is required to issue an electronic VAT invoice with details that are prescribed by the Commissioner-General when they provide services or supply goods.

However, some businesses are breaching the law and that is why we have embarked on this exercise.

He said our job is to mobilise revenue and once you are found not to obey the law, we will come after you. We are not comfortable arresting people. But if you push us to the wall, we will come after you. We persuade people to comply but when all these tools fail, the ultimate is enforcement”, he said.

He stressed the need for business owners to comply with the tax law and avoid being in contravention of the law.