Two Chinese firms dealing in footwear and accessories at the Central Business District of Accra in the Greater Accra region have been handed over to the Regional Criminal Investigations Department, CID for allegedly issuing fake Value Added Tax (VAT) invoices.

This follows an exercise by the authority which showed that two wholesale firms, named Hua Feng Trading and Zencsi Investment Company at the Zongo lane in Accra were issuing fake invoices.

The exercise is part of an ongoing invigilation by the Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA) to clamp down on businesses and individuals evading tax in the country.

The two Chinese stores were said to be operating in the Central Business District with fake invoices and fake receipts for its customers.

Area Enforcement Manager for the Accra Central at GRA, Joseph Annan, told Joy Business after the operations that “our team this dawn was dispatched to the Accra Central Business enclave and we chanced upon these taxpayers issuing their own VAT receipt for their customers. And it is an infraction on our tax laws”.

“We are immediately going to asses them, preempt and charge VAT for them to pay with penalty. This is part of an invigilation exercise being carried by the Authority to enforce compliance and deal with recalcitrant tax payers” he said.

Meanwhile, the team from the GRA moved to East Legon, also in the Greater Accra region where a plush event centre and trading company, De Icon has been operating without registering with the GRA for tax payments.

The team locked the facility to restrain the owners and customers from doing business until the registration process is concluded.

Chief Revenue Officer at the office of the Commissioner General, Nathaniel Tetteh told Journalists that that company will be made to comply with the law and pay penalties before it can resume operations.

“We have information that this facility has been operating since December 2021 without the necessary tax requirements. So, our assignment here is to lock the place until the right thing is done. They have to provide some documents so we can use it to track the business they have done and apply the charges” he told Joy Business.

Meanwhile, all efforts to get the managers or the directors to speak to the media was not successful.