The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) seized cartons of bottled drinks and water from selected retail outlets in Accra which have failed to fix the tax stamp on their products.

The Chief Revenue Officer of the GRA, Kwabena Apau Awua Anto further warned retailers of bottled products to either shun purchasing products without the tax stamp or risk having the items seized.

“We want all retailers to ensure that the manufacturers have the stamp on the products before they allow it in their shops. We will continue to visit retail shops and ensure that the tax stamp in compiled with” a Chief Revenue Officer, Kwabena Apau Awua Anto told the media during a raid of some retail shops.

Meanwhile, checks at a distribution depot of the Accra Breweries Ltd showed the tax stamp was being distributed directly to them at a fee by some unscrupulous persons.

Background

The Excise Tax Stamp Act, 2013 (ACT 873) was passed by Parliament in December 2013 with the aim of helping the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) enforce the affixing of Excise Tax Stamp on specific excisable goods before they are delivered ex-factory, cleared from any port or presented for sale at any commercial level in Ghana.

The ACT subsequently received presidential assent in January 2014.

The Excise Tax Stamp Act is definitely not an introduction of a new tax. It rather requires that Excise Tax Stamps with traceable and security-enhanced features on specified excisable commodities in order to serve as preliminary evidence of the payment of the required duties and taxes and to provide an audit trail for tracing importers and manufacturers of counterfeited goods.

Excisable Products expected to be affixed with the stamps include Cigarette and other Tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, non-alcoholic and carbonated beverages, bottled water, textiles and other goods determined by the Minister of Finance.

The enforcement of the Act started at the ports on January 1, 2018, and the points of sale on March 1, 2018, with a special task force commencing the first phase of an enforcement exercise in Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi.