Six company owners, including two Chinese, were detained in Accra for failing to provide consumers with value-added tax (VAT) bills.
The names of the individuals who were detained were withheld, but their places of employment were listed as Computer Land Ghana Limited, which deals in computers and accessories, and Hiang Vegetables and Fruits Chinese Supermarket, both in Osu; Emelijo Enterprise, a store that sells disposables at La Wireless; U-Fresh Company Limited, which manufactures beverages and is owned by some Chinese; Sulas Enterprise, which deals in power generating sets and construction machinery; and Mahalia K.
They are among 93 companies out of 115 that were discovered not to be providing VAT invoices to clients that use their services.
shopping for clues
After visiting 115 establishments in a week of undercover activities, the businesses' illegalities were found out through mystery shopping or text-buy investigations.
Failure to provide a VAT invoice to clients who use your services is an infraction for a registered, tax-paying firm.
They were detained yesterday while participating in a VAT enforcement operation by the Ghana Revenue Authority's (GRA) VAT investigation squad.
Even though the drill went without a hitch, the taskforce had difficulties when they visited the Hiang Vegetables and Fruits Chinese Supermarket because the owners refused to work with the GRA team.
They claimed to be tax compliant, but they were unable to provide the team with any records or paperwork to back up their assertion.
Following a protracted back-and-forth, the group shut down the store and secured the area with tape and a lock.
The Ghanaian employees at U-Fresh Company Limited said their Chinese managers had left for lunch, but after a protracted wait, the team picked up one of the Chinese and left an invitation for the business's proprietors.
The team for the activity was led by Joseph Annan, Manager of the Accra Central Enforcement Unit of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), who stated the arrested people would be turned over to the police for an investigation and possible criminal charges.
The authority was going after enterprises that had neglected to give certified VAT invoices to their clients at the point of sale at their outlets in the coming weeks; therefore, yesterday's activity was focused on 15 of the 93 identified companies.
The majority of the documents kept by the two Chinese corporations, according to Mr. Annan, will be translated at their expense.
He advised firms that have registered for VAT to always issue the VAT invoice in accordance with the law to prevent penalties and punishment.
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