The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has warned Ghanaians against using foreign-registered vehicles to circumvent customs duties and taxes under the Temporary Vehicle Importation (TVI) system.

The warning follows concerns over the growing practice of some Ghanaians travelling to neighbouring ECOWAS countries to purchase vehicles and bring them into Ghana under foreign registration to avoid paying the applicable duties.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on September 8, Revenue Officer at the National Vehicle Task Force, King Godfred Akorligleh, explained that the TVI arrangement allows eligible foreign nationals to bring vehicles into Ghana temporarily for an approved period.

At the end of that period, the vehicle must either be taken out of the country, or the owner must obtain an extension from the Customs Division of the GRA.

Mr Akorligleh said some Ghanaians were, however, exploiting the system by importing vehicles under foreign registration and repeatedly renewing their temporary stay.

“Currently, Ghanaians are also going to these ECOWAS countries to buy their vehicles, bring them here and use them without paying duties and taxes,” he said.

Customs may impound overstayed vehicles

He explained that vehicles admitted into Ghana under the TVI arrangement are given a specific period within which they are permitted to remain in the country.

Where an owner needs to keep the vehicle in Ghana beyond that period, they are required to report to the nearest Customs office and apply for an extension before the authorised period expires.

Mr Akorligleh said vehicles that remain in the country beyond the approved period without the necessary extension could be impounded by Customs enforcement teams.

Owners may also be required to pay administrative charges and a pecuniary penalty for the period of the overstay, with Customs taking the circumstances of each case into consideration when determining the appropriate penalty.

He cited medical treatment as an example of a legitimate reason for extending the authorised period.

“If you are coming for health issues, maybe you are coming to do some operation or surgery in Ghana, you are given, let's say, 10 days, but you have overstayed for almost five days, you write or go to the nearest Customs office and inform them,” he explained.

He said Customs could grant additional time where the circumstances justified an extension.

GRA cautions against repeated renewals

Mr Akorligleh, however, cautioned Ghanaians against deliberately using the TVI system to avoid paying duties on vehicles they are not eligible to import under the arrangement.

He said some individuals were allegedly encouraging vehicle owners to repeatedly renew their temporary importation permits even when the Ghanaian owner was not entitled to the concession.

“A Ghanaian will go and buy a car and bring it to Ghana and say, ‘Oh, my brother, the duty is too high. I can do something for you that every month, or the days that they give you, you go and renew.’ Meanwhile, you are a Ghanaian; you are not entitled to this protocol,” he cautioned.

According to him, such practices undermine the Customs system and deprive the State of revenue that should accrue from the importation of vehicles.

Vehicles could be escorted out of Ghana

The GRA official further warned that where Customs establishes that the TVI system is being deliberately abused, the affected vehicle could be removed from the country.

“If we think that you are abusing the system, your vehicle will be sent—we escort the vehicle out of the country,” he said.

He stressed, however, that the enforcement exercise was not targeted at all foreign-registered vehicles in Ghana.

Rather, Customs is seeking to identify vehicles that have overstayed their authorised periods or are being used in breach of the conditions under which they were admitted into the country.

The GRA is therefore urging vehicle owners and users to comply with the conditions governing temporary vehicle importation and to seek the necessary extensions from Customs before their authorised periods expire.