The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Wednesday, June 6 shut down an Accra-based television station, Metro TV over failure to pay their taxes.
The free-to-air private television station is said to have ignored persistent warnings by the GRA to pay GHC2.3 million it owed.
Assistant Commissioner in charge of Public Affairs at the GRA, Kwasi Bobie-Ansah said the GHC2.3m is the total sum of tax owed the GRA from 2014 to 2018.
According to him, the station owes GHC55,000 in Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) tax and additional GHC1.6 million VAT, as well as incidentals, interest and penalties for defaulting for the past four years .
According to GRA’s Debt Management and Compliance Enforcement unit, the GRA has over the period followed the necessary processes to ensure Metro TV pays the debt but to no avail.
“We’ve given them ample time but they refused to do what is expected of them. We followed the due process,” Mr. Bobbie-Ansah said.
Officials of Metro TV declined to speak on the matter immediately, but were later seen in an argument with GRA officials insisting that they have been making payments to the GRA though they are yet to cover the full arrears.
When asked whether it was an operational or management shutdown, Mr. Ansah said, “As you’ve seen, we have shut down the whole place”.
According to him, the shutdown is expected to affect transmission of the station, meaning Metro TV will be off air until they are cleared by the GRA.
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