Diplomats Schooled On New Tax Registration

FOLLOWING THE introduction of the new tax registration for businesses, individuals and organisations last year, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has organized a sensitization seminar for the Diplomatic Community in Accra. The seminar was aimed at interacting with members of the Diplomatic Community and other international organisations on the business and taxpayer registration and re-registration exercise. The ongoing integration and modernization process, which forms part of Ghana�s e-Government (GeGOV) project, is aimed at improving quality of customer records and facilitating service delivery. The registration is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet), GRA and other partners like the Registrar-General�s Department (RGD). In a speech read on his behalf, the Commissioner-General of GRA, George Blankson, said the project would link GRA to the RGD electronically to ensure that GRA had access to their database to access details of registered businesses for easy tracking and for tax purposes. He noted that �as members of the Diplomatic Community, it is important that the GRA interacts with you so that your understanding will be enhanced to enable you take advantage of the new system, especially in the clearance of imported goods.� He assured participants that GRA would take their concerns on board and help resolve them. The Project Director of GeGov Paul Kwakyi, in his presentation, said registration of new companies had already started, but companies who wanted to re-register would have to wait till April this year. He explained that companies, after registration, would be issued with Tax Payer Identification (TIN) numbers which would, among other things, facilitate easy identification. He advised companies and individuals to visit the GRA website on www.gra.gov.gh for further details.