Accra, Oct. 11, GNA - The Value Added Tax (VAT) Service on Wednesday closed down a number of companies in Accra as it began an exercise to retrieve some 2.5 billion cedis owed to the Service.

Mr Albert Akplah, Head of the Ringway Estate Local VAT Office, said they had to resort to the distress action to recover the money after every effort to collect it had failed.

At Akuaba Ghana Limited, a furniture manufacturing company at Dzowulu, which owes the VAT Service about 716 million cedis, Dr Herbstein Adusei, Chief Executive Officer, pleaded with the VAT Officers to give them some time to pay. She also offered to make part-payment of 350 million cedis and to settle the rest later.

She explained that the Company was in difficulty and it was not even able to pay workers' salary promptly.

VAT officials, accompanied by two Police Officers, however, locked up the Offices and directed her to see the Commissioner for negotiations.

At International Packaging Filling and Bottling Company, the VAT Officials in the absence of the Managing Director, told the workers to leave the premises to enable them to lock up the place since the Company owed about 72 million cedis from December 2004 to July 2006.

Simple World Limited, a company that deals in stationary and office equipment, was also closed down in the absence of the Managing Director for owing about 50 million cedis from May 2005 to July 2006.

The VAT Officials did not meet anybody at the premises AITEC Ghana Limited, which owes the Service about 101 million cedis, but they went ahead to lock up the doors and left a notice on the door.

The Management of Computer Warehouse at Osu, which owed the Service about 312 million cedis from January 1999 to September 2006, gave the VAT officials a post-dated cheque to settle the debt.

The affected companies were given 14 days to pay the debt or the Service would confiscate their assets and auction them to settle the debts.

Mr Akplah urged companies owing the Service to come forward willingly to pay their debts before distress action was taken against them. 11 Oct. 06