The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) taskforce has arrested three hotel supervisors and one super market operator for non-issuance of Value Added Tax (VAT) invoice.
The arrest took place in Accra to ensure business owners adhere to the issuance of VAT invoices and other revenue tax due the government.
The hotels were Legacy Hotel, Kegali Hotel, and Mascot Hotel, and Silver clouds 68 super market, all located in the Ablekuma West municipal district.
The arrested culprits were taken to the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority in Accra to
be examined and established assessment for a pre-emptive fine of GHC 50,000.
Refusal to pay would be furthered to the law court for further determination.
Mr Josph Annane, Area Enforcement Manger of Ghana Revenue Authority in charge of Accra Central, said it was a criminal offence for business owners not to issue VAT invoices.
He said they were to comply with the Section 41 of VAT Act which requires them to issue the tax invoice only at all times.
Speaking about the revenue gains in the year 2021, he said the collection for VAT was GHC646 million, but according to statistics from the Bank of Ghana, this year’s VAT revenue had shot up to GHC1.2 billion.
“This shows how necessary and effective the operation has helped mobilise revenue for the country”, he added.
He said the authority would continue to embark on such operations to bring some significance improvement in the collection of VAT and every revenue collection in the country.
When asked about the progress of the new electronic VAT system launched last year , he said the e-VAT system had challenges due to its newness, however the authority was working with 170 tax payers only to test the systems’s effectiveness before going public.
He urged the public not to accept inappropriate VAT invoices except for the Authority’s VATs.
He said the operation was an ongoing process and that the authority would extend the operation to other regions across the country, adding that, the GRA would continue to embark on surprise operations until sanity was restored in the country.