The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has charged the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) to wage a war on ‘big’ companies and corporations that default in tax payment as government takes steps to raise more revenue.

Several reports have indicted some corporations for not paying their fair share of taxes. The Attorney-General says that practice must cease immediately.

Speaking when he paid a working visit to EOCO, Godfred Dame tasked EOCO to ensure that such defaulting companies are prosecuted.

“This year, the Finance Minister and I have resolved that there must be prosecution of big tax offenders because the state’s effort at undertaking all developmental projects will come to naught if there is a failure to amass as much tax as possible for the state and that means widening the tax net.”

“In order to widen the tax net, we ought to ensure that all those who are supposed to pay taxes pay. There have been instances where many of the big companies and petroleum-producing companies, mining companies grossly understate their revenue; we think there must be a stop to that,” he stressed.

He noted that he will be counting on EOCO “for the investigation of big tax offences.”

“In the next few weeks, together with the Ghana Revenue Authority, we will form some partnership to ensure that certain offences by some oil companies will be investigated and hopefully prosecuted.”