GRA Taskforce Arrests 5 Managers Of Shopping Malls For Tax Infractions

Five managers of commercial centers on Spintex Road in Accra have been detained by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) taskforce for allegedly avoiding tax under the electronic Value Added Tax (VAT) system. China Mall, Sneda Shopping Mall, and Fresh First Limited are the businesses that were discovered to not be issuing e-VAT, while Palace Mall and Shoprite at the Junction Mall were found to be issuing receipts bearing duplicate signatures of the Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority.

Before being turned over to the Police’s Criminal Investigation Department, the Managers were sent to the Customs office at the company’s headquarters to give their statements. The program is a part of a statewide VAT enforcement operation that is now underway to ensure tax compliance and recover revenues owed to the State.

According to Mr. Edward Appenteng Gyamerah, the GRA Commissioner in charge of the Domestic Tax Revenue Division, certain taxpayers were issuing invoices that were not legally needed to be certified by the Commissioner-General.

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He explained that every registered VAT taxpayer was obligated to provide an electronic VAT invoice containing the information specified by the Commissioner General when they offered services or sold goods, according to section 41 of the VAT Act 2013, (Act 870), as modified by Act 1082 and Act 1087.

According to the investigations, some taxpayers were discovered to have issued fraudulent tax invoices or sales receipts, while others had neglected to incorporate the certified invoicing system into the Commissioner General of the GRA’s invoicing system.

According to Mr. Gyamerah, the VAT Act stipulates that such offences are punishable by a fine of no more than 100 penalty units, a jail sentence of no more than six months, or both, in addition to the payment of a fine of no more than GHC 50,000, or three times the amount of tax involved.

According to him, violators of the law might potentially face charges under sections 78 and 82 of the Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (Act 915) that addressed, respectively, disobeying a tax law and obstructing tax administration.