The Volta Regional branch of the Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors of Ghana (ABCECG) has petitioned the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to reconsider its taxing system for construction firms contracted by the government to undertake various public projects.

These were contained in a presentation delivered at a meeting with the Volta Region hierarchy of the GRA at the regional office in Ho.

The Members led by the Volta Regional Chairman of the ABCECG, Dr. Emmanuel Afetorgbor also questioned the act of GRA not crediting members after recording credit but insisted that they pay debits based on the “desktop assessments”.

He lamented the huge penal charges on delayed filing of returns and entreated the GRA to review the decision. He also sought to know "the criteria or diagram used in assessing who should pay what."

He also questioned why construction firms are being held to ransom when the various government entities fail to remit or fulfill their obligations when withholding taxes are being deducted from the source of payment.

According to Dr. Afetorgbor, it was unfortunate for the GRA to charge these firms penalties for delay in paying tax, knowing for a fact that it was the government that delayed paying for contracts executed.

“Contractors suffer non/delay payment for works done for the government for several years and when these payments are made, the Government doesn't pay interest on the said amount. It is very unfair for the government to expect tax penalties and interests when clearly the contractor is not to blame”, he said.

He described as unfair situations where some GRA officials humiliate members of the association for delayed payment of taxes, in the quest to meet demands set by the same government which failed to honour its financial obligation to contractors.

He further indicated that “taxes are withheld at the time of payment and when agencies fail to pay the withheld amounts to GRA, the expectation is for the contractor to further use his resources to chase these payments. GRA doesn't penalize these establishments for not paying withheld tax amounts to the credit of the contractors.” He called it "Absurd".

Dr. Afetorgbor called for the immediate redress of the unfortunate happenings “to foster effective collaboration and business sustainability”.

“GRA doesn't seem to want to listen and tailor tax collection to recent happenings in the country.
As one of the major tax-paying sectors of the economy, GRA needs to constantly engage and
educate contractors on changes in their tax collections tactics and also seek input towards effectiveness”, he said.