The Tax  Compliance and Special Tax Stamp Enforcement Unit of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Wednesday seized cartons of drinks from Kempinski and Movenpick hotels in Accra for non-compliance to the tax stamp policy. 

The team also realised that a majority of the products at the bar and storeroom of the hotels had no tax stamps.

The latest move follows earlier seizure of drinks without the tax stamps at wholesale shops in Accra. 

Chief Revenue Officer of the GRA, leading the task force, Kwabena Apau Anto said, “… we have been visiting retail shops, wholesalers, manufacturers themselves and importers. We also know that key players in this business are the restaurants and the hotels because they sell a lot of these products. 

So today, our focus is on the restaurants and hotels and that’s why this morning we’ve already been to Kempinski and now at Movenpick to make sure that all products without the tax stamp are detained.”

According to the GRA, the exercise will continue until there is full compliance of the Excise Tax Stamp policy.

The Excise Tax Stamp Act, 2013 (ACT 873) was passed by Parliament in December 2013 with the aim of helping the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) enforce the affixing of Excise Tax Stamp on specific excisable goods before they are delivered ex-factory, cleared from any port or presented for sale at any commercial level in Ghana.

The ACT subsequently received presidential assent in January 2014. 

The Excise Tax Stamp Act is definitely not an introduction of a new tax. It rather requires that Excise Tax Stamps with traceable and security-enhanced features on specified excisable commodities in order to serve as preliminary evidence of the payment of the required duties and taxes and to provide an audit trail for tracing importers and manufacturers of counterfeited goods. 

Excisable Products expected to be affixed with the stamps include Cigarette and other Tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, non-alcoholic and carbonated beverages, bottled water, textiles and other goods determined by the minister of finance.

Management of the hotels refused to comment when they were contacted by Joy Business.