The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Reverend. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah has maintained that the authority stands by the tax assessment exercises conducted on businesses and multinational companies operating in the country.
Dr. Owusu Amoah stated that the assessment is a routine exercise conducted by the GRA to before it is published.
He explained that “some of the work that is out today was completed some years ago”.
Basis for objecting a tax assessment by GRA
Dr. Owusu-Amoah clarified that companies have the right under the tax laws to object to specific exercises conducted by the GRA through the laws.
“Every taxpayer has the right to come to the GRA, if he or she is not satisfied by with the work done by the Ghana Revenue Authority. When it comes to the tax assessment and every tax payer has the right to seek redress”, he said.
He stated for example that the Tax Appeals Board is in place to address grievances of all companies.
“One can talk about the Tax Appeals Board to challenge any decision taken by the Ghana Revenue Authority”.
“We want businesses to explore all these measures before they turn to the court if they are not satisfied”, he added.
He assured that the GRA will always respect the rulings of the board.
Recent developments on MTN and Tullow
Telecom Company, MTN recently announced that the GRA has dropped an ¢8.2 billion tax assessment imposed on the company.
According to MTN this was based on an “extensive and productive discussions” during a 21-day negotiation period between Authorities in Ghana and MTN.
Reacting to a question on the issue, Dr. Owusu-Amoah declined to discuss specific cases of companies in public.
“I can assure you the public that every work that has been done by the Ghana Revenue Authority on the tax assessment was done professionally”, he added.
GRA’s mode of collecting taxes
Dr. Owusu-Amoah rejected accusations that the authority is harassing businesses with its distress exercise to check the implementation of the e-VAT
“This is something we have been doing always , even in the past” he added.
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