The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has apprehended ten supermarket managers for their failure to adhere to Value Added Tax (VAT) regulations.
These arrests followed inspections conducted by GRA personnel at stores located in the Awoshie-Anyah Market and the Ablekuma area. The authorities took this action after undercover shoppers confirmed that the store proprietors were in violation of the law.
VKand T Trading Enterprise, Freemago Enterprise, Molla Enterprise, Delcam FB Stationery, Abi Ventures, Jomulet Enterprises, and Yemez Ventures were all ordered to close their operations due to their failure to provide VAT invoices or their selective issuance of such invoices.
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The Assistant Commissioner in Charge of the Accra Central Enforcement Unit, Joseph Annan, clarified that this initiative was part of GRA’s efforts to encourage voluntary tax compliance and ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises comply with tax regulations. He further mentioned that similar actions were being carried out in other marketplaces to verify VAT compliance.
Annan also stated that businesses previously shuttered for noncompliance would be revisited to determine whether they have since become compliant.
“If we find out that they are not complying, then we will classify them as recalcitrant… We dealt with them leniently when we found them to be non-compliant for the first time, but if for the second time we find out that nothing has changed them, we won’t be friendly at all. For those of you who declared profits but failed to pay to the authority, we will also come after you,” Annan said.
