Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has shut down media company, Metro TV for defaulting taxes worth GH¢2.3 million.
The move by the Debt Management Compliance Enforcement Unit of GRA follows the authority’s resolve to improve revenue generation and enforce tax compliance.
The media company has been put under audit and are thus excluded from a tax amnesty.
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In an interview with JoyBusiness, Assistant Commissioner in charge of Public Affairs at the GRA, Kwasi Bobie-Ansah said, “We conducted an audit and we came up with a debt total of 2.3 million cedis made up of pay as you earn (deduction from workers salaries) and VAT. From 2014 to 2018, they have not met the payment. So we executed a distress action.”
Tax amnesty
Mr Bobbie Ansah said, “This is not a one-off project. It is a continuous thing. We are serious about collecting taxes to develop this country.
We have developed a tax amnesty. Companies who are owing have the opportunity to come forward and register. We wish to remind the public that we will come against companies after October 31,” he added.
This is the second time the GRA has shut down Metro TV with the former one being in December 2017.
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The Labone-based television station was acquired by sanitation giant Jospong Group of Companies this year after the past owners faced some challenges.
Sources at Metro TV say the previous owners are to blame for the current situation because they failed to inform the new owner about the debt.
The media house, according to sources is currently undergoing restructuring.
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Tax campaign
Meanwhile, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has launched a comprehensive national tax campaign to encourage more Ghanaians to honour their tax obligations to enable the government to realise its domestic revenue targets, increase social intervention policies and accelerate development across the country.
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The aggressive campaign, which will include stakeholder engagements, dawn broadcasts, social media activities, consistent media announcements, community outreach programmes, compliance and enforcement activities, among other things, is also to help increase the number of people paying taxes from about 16 percent of the population to be at par with the sub-regional average of 20 percent.