The Deputy Commissioner of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Brigadier General Glover Ashong Annan, has reaffirmed the Division’s commitment to plugging revenue leakages and enhancing tax compliance at the country’s ports of entry.
In a telephone interview with The Chronicle’s Business Desk yesterday, Brigadier General Annan revealed a raft of robust strategies being deployed to combat revenue loss, particularly through the diversion of transit goods, smuggling, under-declaration and mis-description of imports.
He identified the diversion of transit goods, where importers circumvent duty payments by illegally selling in-transit goods within the country as a major concern, but assured the public that Customs is intensifying its surveillance and enforcement to end the practice.
“Our focus is to make it impossible for goods to leave bonded warehouses without proper duty payments. We are also clamping down on the smuggling of high-duty items like alcoholic beverages, which have been a consistent source of tax evasion,” the Deputy Commissioner stated.
He issued a stern warning to Customs personnel, who collude with clearing agents and importers to manipulate the system for personal gain, describing such actions as unpatriotic. “We are cleaning house. Any officer found aiding evasion schemes will face severe disciplinary action,” he added.
As part of these intensified measures, the Division has already uncovered several cases of tax evasion and under-declaration.
Brigadier General Annan emphasised that these efforts form part of Customs’ broader objective to ensure that every cedi due the state is collected to support national development.
“Our ports are economic lifelines. We must protect them from being exploited. The Ghana Revenue Authority will continue to invest in technology, train our officers, and strengthen compliance enforcement to ensure maximum revenue collection,” he concluded.
The Customs Division is urging importers and agents to act in good faith, as the authority ramps up efforts to track and punish fraudulent practices at all entry points.
