The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has raised alarm over widespread Value Added Tax (VAT) non-compliance, revealing that nearly 60 per cent of businesses operating in the country are failing to meet their VAT obligations.
According to the Authority, the problem cuts across multiple forms of non-compliance, including failure to register for VAT, under-declaration of sales, and charging VAT without remitting it to the state. The GRA said the trend undermines fairness in the tax system and disadvantages businesses that comply with the law.
The Commissioner-General of the GRA, Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, noted that the scale of non-compliance has had a significant impact on domestic revenue mobilisation, limiting the government’s capacity to fund critical public services and national development initiatives such as education, healthcare, and road infrastructure.
In response, the Domestic Tax Revenue Department of the GRA has constituted the National VAT Compliance and Enforcement Team to strengthen enforcement and improve VAT compliance nationwide.
The team has been positioned as a key institutional mechanism for the effective implementation of the Value Added Tax Act, 2025 (Act 1151), which took effect on January 1, 2026.
Speaking at the inauguration of the team, Sarpong stressed the importance of VAT as a major source of domestic revenue for national development.
He referenced findings from an enforcement exercise conducted in Accra in December, which showed that three out of every five shops were either not registered for VAT, not charging VAT despite being registered, or charging VAT without remitting it to the state.
“That means that 60 per cent of every shop that you see on the street are not complying with their VAT obligations. And that is why, as GRA, taking our mandate for revenue mobilisation seriously and learning from that experimentation, we have quickly put in this national enforcement team,” the Commissioner-General stated.
“We as GRA, as tax administration, need to do well to ensure that we are moving way beyond the passing grade, which is 90 per cent,” he said.
The 26-member enforcement team, chaired by the acting Commissioner of the Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD), Dr Martin Kolbil Yamborigya, is expected to spearhead efforts to promote voluntary compliance while detecting and deterring VAT-related offences.
Comprising officers with expertise in audit, intelligence, investigations, legal enforcement, and taxpayer services, the team will ensure that the new VAT law is applied uniformly and professionally across all sectors of the economy.
Sarpong said the initial focus would be on taxpayer education and support, particularly within high-risk sectors.
“Our first approach is to assist taxpayers to comply, not to punish them,” he said.
However, he warned that businesses that persistently fail to register, charge, or remit VAT would face enforcement action.
“Where the law is deliberately ignored, we will not hesitate to enforce compliance,” Sarpong said.
