Accra, Feb. 11, GNA - The Value Added Tax (VAT) Service has instituted a number of measures including Customer Service Charter aimed at encouraging voluntary compliance of tax payment this year, Mr Joseph F Odartey, Commissioner of the Service announced on Friday. He said the Service Charter, which would ensure high customer care through interaction with clients on frequent basis, was geared towards galvanizing the Service revenue efforts and enable it to achieve set targets for the ensuing years.

Mr Odartey said this at the Service's End of Year Dinner Dance and Awards Night held on Friday in Accra to share fellowship and strengthen working relationship among staff as well as to renew commitments for better productive years.

The Commissioner explained that the Service Charter initiative coupled with recent recruitment of service personnel and senior secondary leavers during vacation would go a long way to motivate customers to file their VAT returns in time and with ease. He urged default customers who failed to file their returns and those who under declared, to take advantage of the current amnesty granted by the government through the 2006 budget to settle them. Mr Odartey said the year 2005 was a challenging one, for which reason the Service was unable to achieve its huge target but expressed the hope that it would perform better in 2006 with the introduction of the new measures.

Mr Kweku Agyeman Manu, Deputy Minister of Finance in Charge of Revenue in a speech read for him spurred the staff on and said notwithstanding their inability to achieve the 2005 projected figure, the Service for years now had been achieving set targets. He commended them for successfully introducing the national health insurance levy and said they should work tireless to overcome future challenges.

Mr Manu lauded the Customer Service Charter and said setting standards were key in achieving objectives and targets. Staff members who distinguished themselves by displaying high sense of performance in their respective capacities within the Service received awards, which included items such as gas cookers, television sets and fridges.