The Ghana Revenue Authority
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has warned taxpayers nationwide not to think that the recent fire incident at its Kwame Nkrumah Circle Office in Accra, has shifted its focus from collecting taxes.
Commissioner General of GRA, Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, served the warning at a press conference on Tuesday, December 10, 2019, in Accra.
He said emphatically that “we are therefore cautioning taxpayers that the fire outbreak has not shifted our focus from our goal of maximizing revenue at this crucial time.
The fire outbreak occurred on Sunday morning, December 1.
The Commissioner General reiterated that the second floor of the building was completely ravaged by the fire leading to some losses.
According to him, GRA is still awaiting the report from the Ghana National Fire Service to determine the next line of action with regard to that building.
“I will however reiterate that the GRA has a backup system, so there will not be any loss of data, no loss of money,” he said.
He however bemoaned that “it is unfortunate that the Authority has suffered this setback at a time when we are at a critical period in our revenue mobilization drive.”
He noted that “the Authority is however still focused and is still poised to working hard to attain the needed revenue for national development.”
Measures
He stated that some arrangements have been made since the incidence.
According to him, Large Taxpayers who interact with business at the LTO can transact business at Kinbu Sub LTO, at the Head Office, Ministries; Kaneshie MTO, Dadeben Road, Katenit, Building Kaneshie Industrial area; Osu MTO, Mission Street, Papaye Down, Legon MTO, Tema MTO.
He noted that the Authority has also put in place measures to help the affected staff in dealing with the loss suffered by offering them counseling and psychological support.
The Commissioner General explained that other measures being deployed by the Authority to take in more revenue are an intensification of prosecution of defaulting taxpayers and also the publication of defaulting taxpayers in the national dailies.
“We are calling on the affected taxpayers to come forward to settle their tax debts and failure to do that will lead to prosecution actions being initiated against them,” he said.
Redeployment
He revealed that “to ensure the smooth running of our operations, staff from the affected offices have been redeployed to other GRA offices to enable them work effectively and also make it convenient for our taxpayers of the Large Tax Office.”
Improvement In Tax Revenue
“The Authority has in the past couple of years fallen short of its revenue target,” he recounted.
However, he said, tax revenue in 2019 has grown by 12.8℅ over 2018 collection.
BY Melvin Tarlue
