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GRA cautions officers against fraudulent acts

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has cautioned its officers against fraudulent acts that impede revenue mobilisation efforts, saying that any officer found culpable will be sanctioned accordingly.

It said it required all staff to work with integrity in protecting the country’s borders while deterring persons who smuggled goods from and into the country.

The Authority has, therefore, called on stakeholders including the media to make available any information or evidence of smuggling and tax evasion to management to assist in unearthing such activities and sanctioning those found culpable.

This was contained in a statement signed and issued in Accra yesterday by the Assistant Commissioner and Head of Communications and Public Affairs, Florence Asante.

The statement followed reports of alleged smuggling activities along the borders of Ghana with the connivance of some officers of the Customs Division of the GRA.

It stated that the Authority would not relent on its mandate and asked the general public to support its efforts to root out fraudulent practices.

Currently, it said the GRA had instituted an Informant Award Scheme as a means of awarding individuals, entities or organisations who offered confidential information to the GRA leading to the recovery of tax.

The statement urged persons who have information to call GRA on 0800-900-110 to report such conducts.

“We assure them that the information will be treated with utmost confidentiality. If the information leads to the recovery of taxes, the informant will receive cash amounts in line with our Informant Policy,” it added.

As part of measures to achieve the 2022 revenue target, the statement said the Preventive wing of the Customs Division of GRA had put in place a Taskforce to tackle smuggling at border points nationwide.

It said the Taskforce works together with officers stationed at various frontier stations to ensure that goods entering the country have passed through the proper Customs control for payment of duties.

The Customs Division, it noted, regularly carried out arrests of smugglers, saving the country from unscrupulous persons who sought to evade payment of duties.

The statement said the Division also continues to identify several unauthorised routes which some persons use in an attempt to bring goods into the country.

BY TIMES REPORTER

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