The Ghana Revenue Authority has described a publication by the National Identification Authority (NIA), which alleged the Authority’s indebtedness to the NIA, leading to its disconnection from the NIA's Identity System, as unfortunate.

It describes the purported debt as legacy and lacks regulatory and governance approvals.

In a statement, the GRA expressed great surprise at the averments made by NIA.

“There appears to be a Legacy Debt inherited as a result of some services rendered to the Authority by NIA prior to 2025.”

“From the GRA’s present assessment, there were no regulatory and governance approvals for the transaction that created the purported debt. GRA’s principles of transparency, compliance and governance protocols do not permit enforcement of transactions that do not meet regulatory requirements, particularly as demanded by the reset vision of the President and the Government”, it added.

It continued that as part of the existing arrangements between the two agencies, NIA was allowed and had set up their desk offices at GRA premises nationwide, where they register individuals and issue them with the national identification cards without paying rent and utilities to the GRA for years.

“There are current high-level discussions between the two agencies in resolving the issues, particularly where GRA has identified some procedural breaches and cannot affirm the existence of a service agreement between the parties”, it pointed out. “GRA acknowledges the importance of inter-agency collaboration in achieving national objectives, including the integration of the Ghana Card into the tax system”, it added.

The GRA in this regard extended collaborative hands to NIA while emphasising the need to improve its cordial relationship and resolve matters amicably.

The Authority used the opportunity to reassure taxpayers and the general public of its commitment and adherence to its values of fairness, integrity, responsiveness, service and teamwork.