By Rashidatu Ibrahim
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has declared tax amnesty to allow vehicle tax evaders in the country to enjoy some waivers due to the amnesty exercise.
This annual exercise, according to GRA forms part of the Authority’s efforts to encourage voluntary tax compliance among the citizenry as well as foreigners in the country.
The GRA has therefore called on persons who have in their possession overaged and/or vehicles that have been smuggled into the country through unapproved routes, to come forward and benefit from its tax amnesty exercise before the September 30 deadline.
This year’s tax amnesty which started August 1, 2024, also presents an opportunity for all taxpayers and potential taxpayers who have defaulted to fulfil their tax obligations voluntarily.
Speaking to members of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) on the sidelines of a GRA media engagement in Accra, Justice Yadjayime, Supervisor of the Vehicle Valuation Unit at the Customs Head Office urged strict compliance with tax laws in the country to avoid further penalties.
“We want people to voluntarily comply with the tax laws. So, this is for those who have their vehicles smuggled into the country, or those who came in on temporary importation. Temporary importation is for those ECOWAS members who come in with their vehicles- they are allowed to come in for 90 days for further extension, but some do not do it.
We encourage people to comply with the tax laws. GRA wants those who have not complied with the tax laws and have vehicles in the country, whether they came through approved routes using the temporary importation regime, which allows them to stay for 90 days, or they smuggled them through unapproved routes into the country, to come forward.
They can declare that they have these vehicles and have not paid taxes on them. We will do the assessment—only the vehicle duty. VAT, and other taxes– penalties will be waived. That is what the amnesty does, he said.”
Beyond the deadline of September 30, Mr. Yadjayime noted that the Preventive Unit of the Customs Division, will apply enforcement measures to recover the taxes which will come with penalties.
“The Operations Unit will go around and then pick such vehicles. They have their diagnostic machine to plug into the car and if you have any document covering it, they can check whether you have paid duty or not. If the chassis number has been tempered with, they will know. We call all these vehicles “uncustomed vehicles”. When we pick them up, usually, we will impose 300 percent penalty on the original duty.
