Crime & Punishment of Friday, 7 August 2015

Source: GNA

100 arrested by the GRA over tax evasion

The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in Ashanti has within the past seven months arrested about 100 transporters over tax evasion.

Assistant Commissioner of Customs, Isaac Kofi Toffah, the Regional Head, said the offenders were made to pay the appropriate penalties to the state and warned to operate within the law.

He vowed to go after tax dodgers to ensure that the nation generated more revenue for economic development.

Officers of the Division, who collude with people to deny the state revenue would not be protected.

Assistant Commissioner Toffah was addressing a stakeholders’ workshop on trade facilitation and road governance held in Kumasi.

It was organized by Borderless Alliance, an NGO, facilitating trade in the West African sub-region and brought together participants from Ghana, Mali and Niger.

The goal was to discuss ways of addressing challenges in the trade and transport industry to promote growth in the sub region.

The workshop was also attended by representatives from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), USAID- Trade Hub Network, the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA), the police, customs and the Roads and Highways Ministry.

Mr Toffah said the Division would work closely with other security agencies to enhance trade in the sub-region.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Samuel Sasu-Mensah of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department, Accra, cautioned police officers to avoid practices that would earn the service a bad name and dent its image.