The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has embarked on a special exercise to recover unpaid taxes from oil marketing companies across the country.

As part of the exercise, the yesterday locked up two oil marketing companies, Grid Petroleum Ghana Limited and Sonnidom Petroleum, for defaulting in tax payment of more than GH¢1. 2 million and GH¢862,000 respectively over a period of two years.

Other companies the task force chased yesterday were Santol Limited for owing GH¢57.39 million in taxes; Life Petroleum, GH¢1.14 million; Sawiz Petroleum, GH¢5.12 million; Delian and Co Limited, GH¢11.63 million and Petra Energy, GH¢20.73 million.

The debt was accrued on failure to pay petroleum taxes and levies to the state.

Apart from the two companies that were locked up, the others after hours of deliberating with a team from the Debt Management Compliance and Enforcement Unit of the GRA, separately reached a payment agreement.

In line with a court warrant obtained by the Commissioner General of the GRA to effect the exercise, the team locked up a fuel service station, offices and a supermarket belonging to the Grid Petroleum Ghana Limited at Dome.

The management of the Grid Company engaged members of the special task force in a lengthy discussion which hit a deadlock.

Assets seized

The Chief Revenue Officer of the GRA, Mr Nathaniel Nii Okai Tettey, said Grid had defaulted in taxes to the tune of GH¢1, 253,169,51 while the authority had made numerous attempts to get the management to pay the debt, including putting in place arrangements to get them to pay in instalments.

The scene was similar at Sonnidom Petroleum.

Later when the team went to another fuel service station known as SAWIZ Petroleum Limited where it projected to collect a tax debt of more than GH¢5 million, it was discovered that a new company had taken over; hence, the inability of the GRA team to carry out its mandate.

Mr Tettey explained that the team would track the company and recover the debt.

He said oil marketing companies after lifting oil were to pay the petroleum taxes and levies within 21 days and a grace period of four days after taking their profit margins.

"Unfortunately, some of them decide to add the government taxes to their profit margins and deny the state of the needed revenue," he said.

The task force also went to the offices of the other service stations where the management agreed to clear the debt based on a payment plan.