The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has uncovered significant tax discrepancies in payments made automatically by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) for downstream petroleum audit services.
Addressing a press conference, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng revealed that the GRA, despite being the country’s central tax collection agency, failed to withhold statutory taxes amounting to GH₵13.38 million on payments made to SML.
He noted that although the GRA later corrected the tax shortfall on July 24, 2024, a substantial penalty of GH₵18.8 million remains unpaid.
“A central issue arising from the automatic payments by GRA to SML in respect of the downstream petroleum audit is that GRA, the central tax authority, failed to deduct statutory taxes totalling GH₵13,380,000.00,” Mr Agyebeng stated.
In addition to the outstanding penalty, the OSP’s report also cited an unpaid Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) tax liability of GH₵346,967.53 owed by SML.
These findings form part of the OSP’s ongoing investigation into contracts involving the Ministry of Finance, the GRA, and SML, which have already revealed multiple breaches of procurement, tax, and public financial management regulations.
The OSP emphasised that such lapses by the GRA raise serious concerns about internal compliance and accountability within Ghana’s revenue administration system.
Source: Adomonline
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