A busineswoman in Accra has been arrested by a taskforce of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for allegedly failing to issue value added tax (VAT) invoices to customers.
Although, her name has been withheld, she is believed to be the owner of chain supermarkets, Ofori Mati Enterprise, dealers in various items including food and drinks at Teshie in the Ledzokuku Municipality.
She was taken to the GRA Headquarters to be interviewed by officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
Another business, K. Tenkorang Enterprise on the Spintex Road, was issued an ultimatum to report to the GRA or risk closure for not registering with the GRA.
The arrest followed a swoop by the taskforce after a test-purchase which revealed that the operators of the names businesses were evading the payment of VAT.
Chief Revenue Officer, John Yaw Buabeng, Enforcement Manager, Accra South Area Office of the GRA, who led the exercise said the Enforcement Team discovered through undercover purchases that the business was not issuing VAT invoices
The actions of the businesswoman, he said, was in violation of section 41 of the VAT Act which mandates a registered business to issue VAT invoice at all time.
He said the arrested persons would be handed over to the police, investigated and charged for their actions.
Mr Buabeng noted that officers of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police
Service would take the statement of the arrested businesswoman after which the preemptive assessment would be established and the business would be required to pay immediately.
He said the companies would be charged under section 58 of the VAT Act 870 for non-issuance of VAT invoices, adding that the appropriate sanctions would be applied.
“The punishment for infractions such as non-issuance of VAT invoices as provided under the VAT Act included a fine of not more than one hundred penalty units or a term of imprisonment of not more than six months, or both, in addition to a payment of penalty of an amount of not more than GH¢50,000 or three times the amount of tax involved. A penalty unit is GH¢12.
By the brisk nature of their business, they should have a computer generated invoice. For Ofori Marti enterprises we found that they do highly selective issuance of invoices and even that they had to call for approval,” he added.
Mr Buabeng called on companies to issue VAT invoices and that non-issuance of the invoices was a criminal act punishable by law.
He said the authority would continue to intensify its enforcement exercise in order to clamp down on businesses that do not issue tax invoices or invoices not from the Commissioner-General of GRA.
BY CLAUDE NYARKO
ADAMS