The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), has served notices to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) operating outside the capital and the Greater Accra Region, that they are next in line to face the Authority’s wrath for non-payment of petroleum taxes.
The caution by the GRA as explained the Chief Revenue Officer of the Debt Management and Enforcement Unit of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Nathaniel Nii Okai Tetteh, is due to the fact the Authority’s operations to recover all taxes are not limited to OMCs in the Greater Accra Region alone.
As according to him, some OMCs in the country are not situated in the capital, Accra and the Greater Accra region at large.
“Some OMCs don’t have their stations in Accra but can be found in the other regions, so we will be going after them but that won’t be needed should they settle their taxes before it gets to their turn. For now we are dealing with those in Accra, but after we are done, it will be the turn of all OMCs in all the remaining 15 regions,” he stated.
The Debt Management and Enforcement Unit of the GRA last Thursday, cracked the whip on some OMCs in the capital for non-payment of petroleum taxes by locking up their premises.
Notable among the OMCs dealt the hard blow by the GRA was Grid Petroleum, an OMC said to owe the GRA some Ghs 1.5 million in unpaid taxes.
The exercise as earlier explained by the GRA, is to recoup accumulated petroleum taxes running into millions of cedis from some OMCs since 2019.
“Where we are is a property of Grid Petroleum, but we have another team at the head office and we have a warrant from the Commissioner General to take over the premises and all other properties belonging to grid petroleum,” stated Mr Okai Tetteh last Thursday during the exercise.
“Ours is to ensure that the accumulated debt since 2019 has been paid to the Ghana Revenue Authority, then we can open it for them to continue their work” he added.
But the umbrella association OMCs in the country, the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs) have denied severally accusations of tax evasion or tax non-payments by its members.
In October last year, the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs) rejected claims that some of its members were indebted to government in terms of taxes to the tune of Ghs 25.5 billion.
Stating that it has over the years collaborated with tax agencies to ensure that every member is compliant.
