Commercial vehicle drivers will from this year pay their Vehicle Income Tax (VIT) through the Ghana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) electronic system.
This follows the abolishing of the VIT stickers which is currently posted on commercial vehicles for verification by the police.
Mr Kwesi Bobie-Ansah, Deputy Commissioner, Communications and Public Affairs Unit, GRA, who disclosed this in Accra, stated that the system would allow commercial drivers to pay for their VIT through mobile money platforms.
Addressing stakeholders from the various trade and transport associations in Accra, he said the GRA had further introduced a short code to enable the police, personnel of the GRA and the Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) verify the tax standing of the commercial drivers.
He explained that the system would be linked to the DVLA to ascertain the VIT status of commercial drivers as part of the renewing process of their road worthy certificates.
The introduction of the new system, Mr Bobie-Ansah said, was to make the payment of tax easy and convenient for all taxpayers.
“Over the years, the GRA’s operations have been
largely manual. Tax payers go through several tax payment processes including filling
of annual monthly returns, submission of self –assessment estimates and
submission of declarations for purposes of import duty payments. The roll out
of electronic service including the Integrated Tax Application and Preparation
System (iTaPS) is to enable individuals to file their annual personal income
returns electronically,” he added.
Mr Patrick Frimpong Danso, a member of the Data
Management Team, Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the GRA, said the system was
a simple platform that commercial transport drivers could register using their
vehicle registration number on any simple mobile phone.
“The electronic system will make it easy to verify. You can pay through wallet or through a vendor using your vehicle registration numbers and we are talking to the telecom operators to ensure such transactions do not attract charges,” he added.
Mr Olympio Peku, Welfare Chairman of the GPRTU, called for more consultations between the transport operators and the GRA prior to the implementation of the system to clear concerns of all stakeholders.
BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS