The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has confiscated some trucks fully loaded with products of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana Limited at Spintex, Accra.

This occurred on the morning of Tuesday, 2 October 2018, as the GRA embarked on the second phase of its nationwide compliance enforcement of the excise tax stamp law in accordance with the Tax Stamp Act, 2013, Act 873.

A team of compliance officers from the GRA, who visited some selected factories with journalists, discovered that the products, which were to be conveyed to retail shops, had no tax stamps.

The trucks were, thus, grounded and stopped from doing its distribution rounds.

Leader of the compliance team, Spio Abaidoo, told ClassFM that: “So far, no product has moved out [of the factory] but we have spotted some products in there that will be moving out but they don’t have them [tax stamps]. So, we know that the violation is already in place”.

Prior to the exercise, he said that: “Having noted that some have flouted the law and the deadline [for compliance] has passed, we are here at Coca-Cola to make sure that any product that they have manufactured, which is going outside the premises, which is not affixed, we are going to stop that product”.

He continued: “After seizing it, we will leave it with management to take it up but as far as the team is here, our mandate is to make sure that the products that are going out for sale are affixed [with tax stamps]. If they are not affixed, we are stopping it to make sure they do”.

According to the team leader, the compliance level among some of the companies has not been encouraging, adding that the team will not allow products that are not embossed with tax stamps to go onto the market.

Addressing journalists after touring some selected companies, Mr Abaidoo said the management of GRA will sanction companies that flout the directive.

The team is scheduled to also visit factories of Kasapreko Company Limited at Kpone and Bel-Aqua Mineral Water in Tema.

ClassFM