Emmanuel Kofi Nti, the acting commissioner – General of the Ghana Revenue Authority exchanging pleasantries with Kwasi Gyimah Asante, commissioner in charge of Domestic Taxes.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), in collaboration with the Special Surveillance and Monitoring Unit of the Ministry of Finance, has impounded 100 unaccustomed vehicles smuggled into the country by individuals.
The owners of the vehicles, according to Emmanuel Kofi Nti, Acting Commissioner–General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), have been given the opportunity to undergo the processes to pay the required duties.
At a press briefing in at GRA Headquarters, Kofi Nti said their intelligence indicates that a number of unaccustomed vehicles were in the country.
He therefore called on all owners of those vehicles to contact the Customs Divisions of GRA to pay the duties.
“Section 55 (1) of the Customs Act 2016 says a person who imports vehicles into the country shall pay import duty and any others and anybody who does not pay the duty violates the law.”
He noted that grace periods have been given to persons with the said vehicles to regularize them until the taskforce starts to chase them.
“For now we are giving such persons the opportunity to do the right thing and if they refuse and are caught, we shall prosecute them as well and collect the required amount.”
Some of the vehicles, he said, were brought into the country through our neighboring countries by the owners for use in the country but have not paid the duties.
The acting Commissioner–General of GRA called on persons who smuggle goods into the country to desist from the practice to avoid any embarrassment when caught by GRA officials.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey
(lindatenyah@gmail.com)