Takoradi, July 6, GNA 97 Officials of the VAT Service of the Ghana Revenue Authority on Wednesday, locked up the premises of Western Castles, a steel company in Takoradi for non-payment of taxes.

The VAT service also seized all the assets of the company.

The special exercise, dubbed 93VAT Distress Action", is aimed at collecting outstanding debts from recalcitrant customers of the Service.

The VAT Service and personnel from the Police Service paid unannounced visits to establishments and locked up the premises of defaulting customers.

Briefing journalists after the exercise in Takoradi, the Western Regional Unit Head of the VAT Service, Mr Francis Sapathy, said the company owed the Service a total of GHc566, 000 in tax declaration.

He said the company had been indebted to the VAT Service for a very long time and several attempts to collect the money had been fruitless, hence the locking up of the premises.

Mr Sapathy noted that, the company came up with a proposal on how it would pay the outstanding arrears to the Service; however, it failed to abide by those proposals.

"They have been issuing us cheques, but when we go to the bank to cash the money it bounces, which we all know is a criminal offence".

He noted that, the Service had been patient with the antics of the company and would not tolerate it any longer, saying that, 93we will give them two weeks to pay off the debts, but if they fail to do so, the Commissioner of the VAT Service would auction the assets of the company to pay off the outstanding debts".