Attacks and obstruction of GRA – implementation of electronic invoicing system (E-VAT)

The Revenue Mobilization Africa has observed with shock and disappointment some very avoidable and unwarranted attacks on the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in line with the implementation of the Electronic Invoicing System. The ongoing exercise is aimed at ensuring that some fifty (50) targeted large taxpayers enroll onto the certified invoicing system for the administration of VAT in Ghana. These 50 companies are part of a total of 600 companies that have been targeted for the first phase of the three (3) phased project. The Commissioner General has officially and legally certified the E-VAT per the VAT Act 870 as amended. It is worth noting that these 600 companies targeted for the first phase of the project pay 90 % of total VAT revenue and a total of 80 % of our total domestic revenue. The exercise is aimed at aiding the GRA to monitor live transactions in companies (improving revenue monitoring and collection systems). The system will also check the cases of under-invoicing and prevent dodging/avoiding the payment of VAT. When successful this system will increase VAT contributions to the tax revenue generation in Ghana. The second phase of the project will enroll medium taxpayers on the system in 2023 and the third and final phase of the project is expected to enroll the remaining VAT application clients of the tax system. It is important to let the general public know that twenty–five (25) out of the first fifty (50) targeted institutions have complied and enrolled onto the system as scheduled for October 1, 2022. The remaining 25 companies decided to flout the laws with impunity and rather close their shops ahead of the visit by the GRA task force that visited their business operating points. The GRA officials sealed the already closed shops of these companies that flouted the official directive and it is important for an investigation to be instituted into what warranted the closure of their shops and possibly take a further step to explore and know if they have some informants within the GRA system. As part of measures to correct the anomaly we recommend that; 1. All the 25 shops that flouted the laws by failing to enroll, but also did not communicate any difficulty or complications in enrolling onto the system to the GRA should be made to reapply to operate their businesses. 2. The companies should pay a fine and be made to sign a bond of trust and fair trade before the restart. 3. The GRA and representatives of these companies should meet and discuss any difficulty linked to enrolling onto the system technically but not the decision to enroll. We urge the GRA to continue playing this important role in this regard which is in-sink with their core mandate of ensuring maximum compliance at all relevant tax laws. That said it is important to let any company or individual who has any complaints to direct all complaints to the Commissioner General for consideration. We congratulate the GRA and the Commissioner General for their efforts at closing in on tax defaulters.