Accra, June 20, GNA – The Anti-Revenue Leakages Monitoring Team of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), has unveiled a booming industry that is collecting revenue on behalf of the state and diverting the proceeds.
Mr Thomas Mills, Leader of the Team told the Ghana News Agency in Accra at the weekend that some entrepreneurs have not registered with the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the GRA formerly known as the Valued Added Tax (VAT) Secretariat but collect the revenue and issue out computer generated invoices to unsuspecting clients.
He said some companies indebted to the state also close down their businesses and relocate and manage to re-register them in order to invade payment of tax.
Mr Mills said a one month exercise conducted by personnel of the team visited 200 hotels and restaurants nationwide and found out that only 20 of them had issued VAT invoices without clients requesting for them.
He said some of the players in the hospitality industry had the tendency of asking clients if they wanted VAT invoices and explained to them that getting those invoices would attract extra fee.
Mr Mills said some people also under declared the VAT they collected for the state, adding that all these nefarious activities were done with the connivance of some of revenue collectors.
He said often people focussed on the Customs Division of the GRA when the issue of tax evasion came into the public domain, saying there were worse things happening else where.
He noted that a syndicate is working at the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) and managed to issue genuine road worthy certificates, and embossed number plates to uncustomed vehicles.
Mr Mills said such activities made it difficult for the security agencies to trace vehicles involved in crime.
He called on the President to overhaul the activities of the Authority, since the operations of the syndicate was making the vital state institution a security and revenue threat.
Mr Mills said all those found culpable in the illegal activities at the DVLA should be arrested and prosecuted.
He said the team could not sustain the use of state resources to chase and arrest uncustomed vehicles only for some selfish few people to frustrate their mission.
“I find it difficult to understand why officials who are supposed to fight revenue malpractices are rather aiding the act,” he said.
Mr Mills said the Team has declared war against acts inimical to the collection and payment of revenue.
“We are going to be tough on negative acts that undermine collection and payments of revenue due the state since we have established that some of the leakages are artificially created to divert state resources.”
He said the team would liaise with the Revenue Protection Information Bureau, District Assemblies and other stakeholders to conduct door- to- door exercises to check the menace.
“We will make sure that any revenue due to the state is not diverted and we ask the government to make the punishment of people who deny the country the much needed taxes very tough to serve as deterrent to others,” he said.
