Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has expressed surprise at the decision of the National Identification Authority (NIA) to air grievances over alleged debts through the media.

According to Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, the differences should instead be resolved internally.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on Thursday, August 21, he said the GRA has already opened discussions with the NIA to address concerns over claims that the Authority owes millions of cedis.

“So the issue that has recently risen in the media, that, let me say, allegedly, National Identification Authority indicating that GRA owes them millions of cedis, and for which reason they are denying GRA of the use of the card.

"Let’s step back and we’ll recall that in the previous administration, government indicated that the use of the Ghana Card should become the tax identification for individuals. You and I do know that the National Identification Authority is funded by government, and this project has been funded by government.

"What the data has been created is for institutions like GRA and others to be able to use that platform to further other government’s work, and that’s what we are doing, as far as the individual taxpayers are concerned.”

Mr. Sarpong explained that while some legacy arrangements between the two agencies existed, they were not conclusive and had been the subject of ongoing discussions.

“Let me acknowledge that before I took over this reign, or before 2025, there was some form of legacy arrangement between the NIA and GRA. Part of it was for NIA to say that as GRA receives the data, some amount has to be paid to NIA.

"But the other part was also that GRA made available all its offices nationwide for NIA to operate. So as we speak today, NIA has offices all in GRA offices for which GRA does not pay, for which NIA does not pay anything to GRA. But these arrangements were not conclusive.

"So as far as the demand for debt is concerned, when I took over, I have from leadership perspective engaged the Director General of NIA. We met here in GRA offices, and we discussed the matter, and we agreed that as leaders, we need to look at the issues and resolve them subsequently. I’ve also had a conversation with them, how what GRA believes the matter should be, and how they should.”

He stressed that the GRA was taken aback by NIA’s decision to take the matter public.

“For us as GRA it came as a matter of surprise. That’s something that we are speaking on is legacy. As leaders, we came to meet, we have opened the door and accepted them to discuss further and resolve.

"So it was a huge surprise to hear our sister agency trying to take the matter to the media and solve it there. It’s important to recognize that when you have problems, you cannot solve it all in the media. It’s a matter that we need to sit, to dialog, to discuss in a spirit of collaborative manner and solve it.”

Mr. Sarpong maintained that the GRA had extended a professional hand of cooperation to the NIA and urged them to reciprocate.

“So you will notice that from GRA perspective, we have extended another professional arm to our sister agency to say, look, let’s sit down. We know there are issues in this area. We don’t fully agree with your assertions and claims, but we are prepared to lead a way to discuss and to resolve the matter. So we’ve extended a hand to them to lead and resolve.

"I believe that that is what leadership is for, and the two of us are government institutions to serve the people. Our actions should not lead to destabilising service to the people or disturbing our core mandate. So we are committed to work with NIA, and we call upon them to take on the hand that we have extended and let us resolve the matter and deal with it.”

He also rejected reports that the alleged standoff was disrupting trade at the ports.

“What also came out was the negative or the incorrect news to say that because NIA has taken that action, people cannot clear their stations. You speak right now, it is not an accurate account. So if you look at tax administration system today, we have the individuals which we are using the Ghana card, and businesses which GRA generates by itself. Most of these importers run on business TIN.

"We don’t rely on Ghana Card. And therefore it couldn’t have been that if you don’t have your Ghana Card at use, you cannot import. So I want to use this medium to assure all importers that one, that is not the situation. We have not had any single complaint from any importer. The general public should be assured that that is not the situation. And then we are also working with NIA to resolve the matter.”

He clarified that the Ghana Card validation process only applies to new taxpayers, not existing ones.

“Indeed, once your Ghana Card is once validated in your system, it’s not something we validate all the time. So if you are already in our system, you are not impacted.

"It is only needed when a new taxpayer offices and they show their Ghana card, then we go to NIA and say, somebody has showed their Ghana card. Is it issued by you?

"And, therefore, for existing taxpayers, both corporate and individuals, this matter is not having any impact at all. And therefore that’s why, as we say, that it was inaccurate, the post that was.”