COMPLY WITH TAX LAWS - Business Entities Urged

(Daily Graphic, Nov 7, 2011, Page 18)

THE Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has implored business entities operating in the Tamale metropolis to comply with the country’s tax laws to avoid being liable to penalties.

The Tamale District Manager of the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the GRA, Mr Kwame Minsi Fordjour, who gave the warning, said business operators must be mindful of their tax obligations at all times.

“The law requires you to pay some amount of your earnings as taxes to the state to enable government undertake development work. If you fail to do this, you become liable to penalties,” he stated.

Mr Fordjour made these remarks at a tax education seminar organised by the GRA at the conference hall of the Picorna Hotel in Tamale.

The seminar presented an opportunity to a number of entrepreneurs and representatives of various small and medium scale enterprises and companies to engage the GRA on a number of issues bordering on taxes.

“Before starting a business, the owner is or owners are required by law to provide information on the business, the owners and partners to the Registrar-General’s Department,” Mr Fordjour mentioned.

He said after the registration of the business, the operators are enjoined to register with the nearest GRA district office where an assessment is undertaken to determine if the entity is taxable.

Mr Fordjour mentioned that the offenses that could attract some penalties include failure to register with the tax office, failure to issue tax invoice, providing false or misleading statements and under-declaring returns.

He also pointed to the evasion of tax payment and the obstruction of tax officers by some business operators as offences that attracted sanctions.

The Chief Collector for the Customs Division of the GRA in Tamale, Mr Lamptey Mills said there were four ways by which goods could be imported into the country and they are through the harbour, airport, post office and overland.

He said many business persons knew very little about the postal regime, which he said was also governed by customs laws.

He said importers could use the postal regime to import a number of items including valuables, like jewellery, without any fear, because there were strict regulations that governed this process.

Mr Mills indicated that Ghana was a member of the International Postal Union and was therefore enjoined to follow international standards in relation to its postal regime.

Some of the participants expressed concern over the failure of the GRA to widen the tax net and get more citizens and businesses to honour their tax obligations.

They said it was unfair for the GRA to focus much of its attention on businesses that honoured their tax regularly instead of getting those who evaded tax to also pay their due.