The task force visited the hotels and the shop unannounced as part of an enforcement exercise aimed at ensuring VAT compliance.

The hotels visited included Legacy Hotel at North Kaneshie, Mascot Hotel at Dansoman, Kegali Hotel and Spa at Sakaman and a supermarket known as Silver Cloud 68 located at Mamprobi Kamara.

Those arrested were taken to the Customs Division headquarters where their statements were taken by an investigation team before they were handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service.

Objective

Accra Central Area Enforcement Manager of GRA, Assistant Commissioner Joseph Annan, said the hotels and supermarket operators had refused to issue certified VAT invoices by the Commissioner-General to their patrons.

The operation, he said, was part of the Authority’s measures to ensure tax compliance and retrieve taxes due the state.

He said the Division had been employing a number of initiatives to aid revenue mobilisation such as auditing and test purchasing, among others.

A recent test purchases conducted on 115 taxpayers, that were sampled over a week, revealed that a total of 93 taxpayers were not issuing the VAT invoice.

The figure, Mr Annan said, translated into a non-compliance rate of 80.9 per cent and said it was an offence for a registered taxpayer to fail to issue a VAT invoice for purchases made.

Sanctions

He said the sanctions for such VAT infractions ranged from 100 penalty units, payment of three times the revenue lost, if it was established and a minimum of GH¢50,000 fine.

He said the division would continue with the enforcement exercises across the country to apprehend culprits evading tax.

Mr Annan commended the media for supporting the GRA, particularly with the enforcement exercise.

He said Domestic VAT collections increased by 92.4 per cent on year-on-year basis from GH¢649.93 million to GH¢1.250 billion.

"The exercise is yielding good returns and we will continue," he said.

He urged the public, especially customers who make taxable purchases, to always request and insist on VAT invoices.

The government has tasked the GRA to raise their revenue target of GH¢106 billion for the 2023 fiscal year.

Out of this figure, the Domestic Tax Revenue Division is expected to collect 70 per cent of the total revenue.

This year, President Nana Akufo-Addo assented to the three amendments passed by Parliament.

They are the Excise Duty (Amendment), Act 2023 (Act 1093), the Income Tax (Amendment), Act 2023 (Act 1094), and the Growth and Sustainability Levy Act 2023 (Act 1095).

These amendments were to complement efforts to ensure that the Authority met its revenue target.