GRA must pay interest on delayed duty drawback – Businesses

Some businesses in Ghana are proposing the payment of interest on their delayed duty drawback.

They complain that the delays in retrieving the claims owed them by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) erode the value of the money, especially as inflation continues to soar.

The duty drawback is the refund of duties and taxes paid on imported materials that are used in the manufacturing of exported goods. It is one of the trade policy instruments being used to enhance the competitiveness of Ghana’s exports. The scheme which had been in place since 1993, is aimed at providing exporters of manufactured goods with imported material inputs at world prices in order to increase their profitability.

Although lauded as a good policy, its implementation has been fraught with several operational and bureaucratic bottlenecks, which leads to delay in payment of claims.

A research conducted by the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce (GNCC) shows that only 48 percent of business operators who applied for the drawback have received their claims.

The chamber is recommending that interest be paid on the monies which have been locked up.

Its president, Nana Dr. Appiahgyei Dankawoso I, said “just as if someone has not paid his/her taxes for a certain period of time, penalties are imposed on them, if the drawback delays beyond two years, we want to sit down with them (GRA) to see if anything could be done about that by way of penalties or interests being paid to us”.

He added: “If your money has been delayed four about one year, the value decreases as the country’s inflation rises.”