The Auditor General has blamed the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), for failing to collect the mandated taxes from Oil Marketing Companies accruing to the tune of ¢34 million.
Deputy Auditor General in charge of GRA External Audit, Evans Agyin said failure by the GRA to do reconciliation of their records and the records of some 10 Oil Marketing Companies, OMCs led to the OMCs defaulting in the payment of associated taxes.
Speaking on GBC’s Current Affairs Programme, “FOCUS”, Mr. Agyin said the default amount which according to the Auditor-General’s report is more than ¢33 million could have been avoided if the Customs Division of GRA at the Tema Command had taken action.
He said despite the failure, the OMCs continue to lift petroleum products from Tema Oil Refinery.
The Deputy Auditor General, Central Government Audit, George Winful said GRA should put in place plans to recover the money and go further to apply the associated penalties.
The Acting Head of Programmes, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, Bright Sowu said the weak supervision by the GRA is hampering the efforts to collect taxes due the state.
He added that he is not only concerned about the amount of money to be recovered but also the measures put in place to strengthen the systems.
