The Ghana Revenue Authority, GRA, has taken its tax stamp enforcement and compliance exercise education campaign to the Eastern Region. It is undertaking this exercise in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service to raise awareness on the excise tax.
The exercise was led by the Senior Revenue Officer at the Tax Force Head Office of the GRA in Accra, Theophilus Tetteh. He explained that the excise tax stamp Act requires, that tax stamps are affixed on specified goods manufactured or imported into the country and other goods prescribed by the Minister of Finance.
The goods include cigarettes, other tobacco products, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, carbonated beverages, bottled water and other products declared by the Minister. The team visited a number of shops and the revelation was, that most of them did not have the required tax stamp on products on sale.
Samples of the products in the shops were picked by the officials and sent to the GRA office for the owners to follow up for further directives.
Mr. Tetteh said penalty for non-compliance is a fine of 300 percent of the duties on the products and tax involved. Melcom was the only supermarket which was found without any default.
By Harriet Lamptey
