Kumasi: Stalls remain closed as GRA meets striking traders

Management of the Ghana Revenue Authority has called for a meeting with business operators in the Central Business Districts (CBDs) of the Ashanti Region. The meeting at the instance of the management of GRA was scheduled to take place at 8:00 am Tuesday, October 11, 2022. The business operators are on a sit–down strike over the duplicate payment of Value Added Tax (VAT) on products sold in the Kumasi metropolis. The business operators are also complaining about the GRA’s decision to assign tax officers to the offices of the business operators to ensure tax compliance and payment of the VAT among others. The President of the Ashanti Regional Chapter of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Tony Oppong, speaking in an interview with the host of the Ghana Yensom morning show, Emmanuel Quarshie, on Accra 100.5 said the sit-down strike will continue until the issues are addressed by the relevant authorities. He said the crux of the matter is the duplicate payment of the VAT. According to him, when their products are imported VAT payments are made at the ports and when it is delivered to them they again pay VAT for the buyers to also pay. He said these duplicate payments have led to skyrocketing prices in the CBDs. He explained that business operators who are not VAT registered sell at a low price for VAT registered business operators to sell at a high price because of the tax components on the products. He warned if they have to work and suffer they shall close the shops and stay home. "We cannot be working to be making losses at the end of the day," Mr Oppong said. He called on business operators to rally behind leadership to push for some reforms on the tax components of their businesses.