The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has appealed to large taxpayers in the Greater Accra Region to support efforts towards the implementation of the electronic invoicing of Value Added Tax (VAT) and the generation of electronic tax clearance certificate (TCC) in Accra.
A TCC is documentary evidence issued to confirm that the taxpayer is up to date with any tax payments and has met all applicable tax obligations at the date of issue or customers who are in tax arrears but are covered by a satisfactory installment arrangement.
The GRA commenced the issuance of the TCC electronically to tax payers on October 1 this year.
At a sensitisation workshop in Accra yesterday, Deputy Commissioner, Mr Alfred Twumasi Ntiamoah, Head of the Large Taxpayers Unit, GRA, said the TCC and electronic VAT were part of recent initiatives aimed at improving its systems and processes.
He said the new system issues TCC to taxpayers who apply for it through the Taxpayers Portal.
“We want our clients to feel comfortable in fulfilling their civic duty which is the payment of taxes. When we come out with new initiatives we want the clients to know how to go about it so that it will not be a challenge to any of them,” he stated.
The taxpayers’ portal, he said, was introduced to promote voluntary compliance in a friendly tax paying environment.
Mr Ntiamoah noted that the TCC would also support efforts in clamping down on fake tax clearance certificates, address delays and ensure enhanced transparency through the automatic verification and electronic issuance of the certificate to the taxpayer and requesting institutions.
“We are engaging you today to help taxpayers know how to use the taxpayers’ portal to generate tax clearance certificates without visiting the GRA offices.
We want to help you know how you can sit in the comfort of your office and generate your own tax clearance certificate if you as a taxpayer are compliant,” he said.
Mr Ntiamoah encouraged the taxpayers to regularly pay their taxes and file to avoid the imposition of penalties before being issued TCCs.
He reiterated the commitment of the GRA to work with all taxpayers to enable them take advantage of the various initiatives to enhance compliance.
One of the participants, David Essandoh, a representative of the Tax Unit at GCB Bank Plc, said the taxpayers portal was a good initiative which has made it easy for businesses to acquire their tax clearance certificate.
He encouraged all businesses and taxpayers to report any challenges they encounter in using the system for immediate redress.
BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS
