The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has arrested nine retail shops and their owners at the Achimota Mall in the Greater Accra Region for indulging in Value Added Tax (VAT) offences.
The shops are Ara Outdoor Playground, Nady’s Collection, Body Basics, The Hair Village, MV, Life Healthcare Company, Bijou Jewelry, First Choice Hair & Beauty Salon, and Gamel Clodin. They are believed to be part of several shops that were neither registered nor issuing VAT receipts in the Achimota Mall Retail Centre.
Joseph Annan, Accra Central Enforcement Unit Manager of the GRA, led an enforcement team to the Mall on December, 20 2022. He told journalists that the Authority had discovered that a good number of the shops in the Achimota Mall were not honouring their tax obligations.
“These are the initial nine shops. A lot more of them are hiding in there and are not doing the right thing. We spoke to some of the staff, and there were no indications that they pay their VAT. However, some are paying and doing the right thing, but those are few,” he said.
The nine companies, Mr. Annan said, had been invited to the GRA Head Office to write statements, coupled with a pre-emptive assessment by the Authority for investigation to start.
“Once the pre-emptive is done, these shops will pay for the entire areas before being recommended for full audit. The case will then be handed over to the Authority’s Legal Unit to take action,” he said.
The GRA, Mr. Annan disclosed, had been recording some good improvement in payment of VAT through the use of compliance tools, including invoice invigilation, and test purchases among others.
“Our journey towards [the] end of year is on, and we are determined to meet our GH¢80.3 billion target. We appreciate support from the public as we have been receiving some invoices to spur us on in our investigations.”
