By Philip Antoh
The Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Mr. Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, has launched a 26-member compliance and enforcement team in the Domestic Tax and Revenue Division.
This effort is designed to ensure compliance, boost state revenue, and achieve the authority’s goals.
The team’s responsibilities include enhancing Value Added Tax (VAT) payments and encouraging voluntary compliance among taxpayers to address the issues with the implementation of the reformed VAT, which started on January 1, 2026.
Mr. Sarpong noted that more than 60 percent of businesses have not yet adhered to the new VAT rules, resulting in revenue losses and expected price relief for consumers.
At the team’s inauguration in Accra, Mr. Sarpong expressed his concern that the GRA has performed many assessments and found that numerous businesses have not met their VAT responsibilities.
“We have carried out thorough assessments in recent months, especially in December, and discovered that about 60 of the businesses we checked have not paid VAT. Some collect VAT from customers but do not send it to the GRA,” he said.
He called on the team to tackle this problem and motivate customers to pay and submit VAT correctly to improve state revenue and help meet the authority’s revenue goals.
This initiative is part of the Authority’s plans to close the large gap in VAT collections before the end of the year and aid in the country’s revenue mobilization, assuming the law is enforced effectively.
Dr. Martin Yambourigya, the Commissioner for Domestic Tax Revenue at the GRA, urged the newly formed Enforcement and Compliance Team to act decisively and professionally to protect taxpayers’ rights.
Dr. Yambourigya also encouraged taxpayers to reach out to the GRA regarding any tax-related issues.