Stationing GRA Officers At Supermarkets To Collect Taxes Is Lame And Weak – Nana B

The National Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye has slammed the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for its latest ways of ensuring shops and supermarkets are paying their taxes.

According to him, the stationing of officers from the GRA at the entrance of the shops is counter-productive.

He argued that the strategy would have been justified only if it was targeted at businesses that ample evidence shows have been evading or under-declaring their taxes

The NPP National Organiser in a statement said the “widespread approach of stationing revenue officers at businesses is counterproductive, oppressive, repressive, and suppressive.”

“We are not in normal times – businesses and individuals are bearing the brunt of the twin global crisis and their concomitant economic agony – and the least expected from GRA is to police traders whom no tax evasion findings have been made against.”

“In this day of technology, GRA should adopt welcoming and pleasant ways of revenue collection strategy that engenders revenue assurance. This strategy is weak and lame since Revenue Officers stationed at these shops and businesses can be compromised to aid owners to evade or under-declare their taxes. GRA should rather strive to reduce human contact in revenue collection and employ technological solutions to take taxes from businesses,” he added.

In his view, the Public Relations unit of GRA is dead.

“Paying taxes is not a pleasant thing and for that matter, a responsive PR approach must be adopted to educate the tax-paying population about their programmes and activities.”

Relatedly, the Labone, Spintex, Atomic roundabout and Weija branches of Palace Mall have been shutdown by the Ghana Revenue Authority for non-compliance with the authority’s E-VAT Invoicing system.

According to GRA, a number of selected shops have deliberately failed to issue VAT invoices electronically when customers walk in to make purchases.

The GRA says failure of these shops to abide by its directive sends signals that they are under-declaring tax.