Mad rush for TIN registration to get NBSSI stimulus package

Hundreds of traders from the Volta Region have begun flooding the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Headquarters in Ho to get registered for the Tax Identification Number (TIN), to enable them to acquire loans from the GH¢600 million stimulus package allocated to the National Board for Small Scale Businesses Industries (NBSSI).

Following the economic hardship the COVID-19 pandemic has brought across the country and the world at large, the government has allocated some GHS600 million as soft loans to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), with up to a one-year moratorium and a two-year repayment period with an interest rate of three per cent.

Traders would have to provide identifications including the TIN to enabled them to get the loans.

On Tuesday, 26 and Wednesday 27, May 2020, some traders most especially women from across the region without TIN flooded the premises of the GRA in Ho to register.

Anthony Kwabla Dekagbe, Chief Revenue Officer at the Ho Small Taxpayer Office who is in charge of TIN registration, indicated that there have been a massive registration for the past weeks, especially for petty traders and artisans.

"Last week alone, we processed over 600, some are from outside the Ho Municipality, we got some of the forms from Keta, some are from Kpetoe and the rest, this morning the hairdressers association brought some forms from Kpetoe for us to process...this is the first time we are trying to ensure that every Ghanaian have the TIN." he noted.

He noted that some Ghanaians have now seen the need to have a Tax Identification Number, "Those who are coming from outskirts don't really see the need for the TIN, but now with this fund, the fund is going down to the grassroots (hence they all need the TIN)," he added.

The Volta/Oti Director of NBSSI, Seth Klutse said many traders who have interest in the loan but without TIN were referred to the GRA to get registered to enabled them to have a smooth process for the money.

"A lot of them come to the office without their TIN, they are not even aware, so when they come, with the education and orientation we realise they don't have a TIN, an average of 20 to 30 per day come to the office, just the Ho Municipal office, so when you use that across the board, we're working in about 26 districts, and we refer them to the GRA," he said.

He noted that the intervention is not politically motivated hence the need for every Ghanaian to apply especially small scale business owners to enable them to sustain their businesses amidst the coronavirus hardships.

"Those who are market women, those who are farmers...I encourage them to apply, it is not political, it is not politically biased, it is for everybody, once you are a Ghanaian, you are eligible," he said.

Some traders said the loan will help them in their businesses but the process to acquire the money is not favourable.