Authority organizes tax education forum for stakeholders

Mr. Daniel Mensah, Deputy Commander of the Elubo Sector of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), on Thursday said smuggling could be appropriately defined as illegal importation and exportation of goods in and out of the country.

He said smuggling also included illegal manufacture of goods by manufacturers and companies.

Mr. Mensah was speaking at a tax education forum organized by the GRA for stakeholders at Elubo.

The forum was under the theme “The role of GRA in Tax mobilization-Checking smuggling as a tool for tax compliance”.

“When traders infringe or disobey these directives and instead resort to the use of routes other than the prescribed points and import into the country, it is also considered as smuggling," Mr. Mensah said.

He said other forms of smuggling are illegal manufacture, concealment, assisting evasion, under declaration of quantity of goods, undervaluation and wrong description and wrong classification.

Mr. Robert Ayaaba, Head of the Elubo sub-office of the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the GRA, said it was the hope of the Division that people would voluntarily pay their taxes.

He said it was the civic responsibility of the public to honour their tax obligations voluntarily, and people must not shy away from doing so.

Mr. Ayaaba said there are many tax reliefs that people could enjoy when they pay their taxes, and these included reliefs on marriage and children.

He said taxpayers have the obligation to maintain good records, filing of returns by due dates, making records available for examination and informing the Commissioner General of material change in business.

Mr. Ebenezer Akutteh, Assistant Commissioner in-charge of the Elubo Sector of the Customs Division of GRA, who presided, appealed to importers to make correct declaration of their goods and to engage agents to make the right documentation on their goods for them.

He said the government would find it difficult to undertake development projects if people did not pay their taxes.