The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority is checking into two shipping companies and their agents. They are being looked at because it’s believed they faked trade documents to pay less tax to the government.
The Customs Division’s boss, Alhaji Seidu Iddrisu Iddisah, said they started this investigation after getting information that these two companies and their agents were lying about the stuff they were bringing into the country to avoid paying taxes.
They found out that these two companies changed what their goods were called on their shipping papers. They made them sound less valuable so they could pay lower taxes. For example, one company said they were bringing in things like shoes and bags, but on the papers, they called them “knapsack sprayers.”
They also found out that these companies faked the invoices they gave to Customs to pay even less tax. The investigation is not finished yet, and they want to get back the lost taxes and penalties from these companies. They are also making changes to stop this from happening again, like checking things at their headquarters and having a place to look at containers again if needed.
The Customs Division is trying hard to stop people from avoiding taxes, but there’s still more to do. They want everyone to pay the right amount of taxes.
