NPP Govt. will prosecute Tax Evaders – Fin. Minister

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has cautioned entities and the general public who evade tax that government will not relent in efforts to pursue and sanction them.

According to him prosecution of tax evaders and corrupt tax officials will be implemented” with the introduction of a special VAT task force to ensure “enforcement and deepen VAT penetration from the current low level of 11 percent.

”Speaker, as part of efforts to improve revenue performance, we will intensify tax compliance and plug existing revenue leakages. Investigations we have undertaken show inbound leakages on goods arriving in the country, significant outstanding tax debts, abuse of suspense regime in the area of warehousing, transit trade, and free zones, and tax audit issues such as limited coverage, low auditor productivity, and low audit yields.

”Mr. Speaker, we are rolling out major initiatives to address these tax compliance issues. These initiatives will include  prosecutions of tax evaders and corrupt tax officials, a special VAT Attack force to ensure enforcement and deepen VAT penetration from the current low levels of 11 percent, and institutional reforms at GRA. ” – he said.

He made these known during the presentation of the mid-year budget review to parliament on Thursday, 19 July 2018.

He said domestic revenue mobilisation reforms are being carried out in the areas of automation of systems, process improvement and change in culture.

The minister stated that : ”Investigations we have undertaken show inbound leakages on goods arriving in the country, significant outstanding tax debts, suspense regimes in the area of warehousing, transit trade, and free zones, and tax audit issues such as limited coverage”.