Revenue task force nabs 30 businesses for tax evasion

Thirty companies have been cited for under-invoicing the value of their goods at one of the country's entry points. Consequently, the Presidential Taskforce on Revenue Mobilisation, which had impounded the under-invoiced goods belonging to the 30 companies, had compelled the managers of the companies to pay the difference and penalty totalling more than GHc60,000.

A Deputy Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mr Felix Ofosu Kwakye, told journalists Monday at the Flagstaff in Accra that the arrests had been effected in the last two weeks.
He, however, declined to give the names of the companies or the name of the entry point for security reasons.

Mr Ofosu Kwakye said some officials of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority and individuals connected to the 30 companies had been apprehended and placed in police custody.

He said the suspects were being processed for court, and expressed the hope that the court would impose the highest administrative sanctions on those who would be found guilty.

The taskforce, which comprises representatives of the various security agencies, was constituted a month ago to check smuggling at the country's entry points.

The taskforce was charged to mount surveillance, intercept and arrest people engaged in smuggling activities and evading the payment of appropriate levies on imported goods.

Giving details of the money accrued from the under-invoicing, the deputy minister said in the first week the task force recovered GHc31,412, and got GHc29,000 in the second week.

He expressed the hope that the task force would impound more under-invoiced goods and generate some money for the state as the weeks roll on.

He asked the public to cooperate with the task force by providing it with the right information.

Mr Ofosu Kwakye said revenue generation had improved significantly at the Tema Port as a result of the operations of the task force.

Last week, the police arrested a Deputy Security Representative at the Tema Port and five officers of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority for their alleged involvement in underhand dealings at the port.


Story by Musah Yahaya Jafaru/Graphic.com.gh
Ghana