An audit report from the Auditor General Department has disclosed that 28 Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have defaulted in the payment of taxes between July, 2018 and December, 2019.

According to the report, the 28 OMCs owed GRA-Customs Division an amount ¢226,942,904.00 as taxes on petroleum from the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).

The report further stated that the failure of the OMCs to pay the due tax is not in accordance to section 104 of the Customs Act 2015 (Act 891).

“Section 104 of the Customs Act, 2015 (Act 891) provides that where the Commissioner-General establishes that a person owes duty or tax arrears, that person shall within thirty days of a written request by the Commissioner-General refund the money or pay the duty or tax arrears owed,” the report titled “ Report of the Auditor- General” stated.

It therefore recommended that the amount owed by the OMCs to be recovered with immediate effect.

“We recommended to the Commissioner, Customs Division to recover the amount of ¢226,942,904.00 from the OMCs without any further delay,” it indicated.

This comes after an audit report also released in 2018 accused 10 OMCs of failing to pay an amount of ¢33,675,044 as taxes on petroleum products to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in the year 2018.