VAT STORY (11/7/09)

THE Value Added Tax (VAT) Service has rolled out a comprehensive nationwide educational campaign to whip up compliance with the indirect tax system.
One of the difficulties facing the VAT regime is that most buyers do not insist on VAT receipts, leaving retailers to keep revenues otherwise meant for the state.
The increased VAT tax education would therefore sensitise the public to some of the simple things they need to do to help the service to meet its national revenue collection targets.
An Assistant Revenue Officer of VAT at the Okaishie VAT Sub Office (VSO), Mr Frank Appiah Boadi, said seminars and workshops for targeted groups would increase compliance necessary for generating adequate revenue to finance the national budget and reduce the over-reliance on donor funds.
He said this when the Okaishie VAT Sub Office organised a one-day seminar for students and staff of the Holy Trinity Cathedral Secondary School (HOTCASS) as part of the educational programme.
Topics discussed included the importance of paying taxes, its benefits, as well as the need to patronise shops that were registered under the VAT scheme.
Mr Boadi said increasing revenue generation was important for funding crucial projects such as the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and the National Health Insurance Scheme.
“When we are able to generate internal revenue effectively, we can finance development projects such as roads, hospitals and schools,” he stated.
Consequently, the public had a civic and responsibility to patronise shops that were registered under the VAT scheme, Mr Boadi stated, and entreated the public to patronise such shops.
He also urged the public to demand their VAT invoice whenever they bought goods or patronised services from VAT-registered shops.
The VAT Service, he said, was aware of fraudsters who issued fake invoices to customers, saying “we have taken measures to arrest them”.
He called on the public to report any trader who issued fake invoices to customers to the VAT service for the necessary action to be taken.
The Assistant Revenue Officer of VAT also advised businesses to register with the VAT scheme and collect revenues on behalf of the government for national development.