On Thursday, December 8, 2022, some Chinese people who worked at quarry sites in Kasoa in the Central region let loose dogs on members of the Tax Enforcement Unit of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
As part of a plan to raise more money for the country, the GRA officials were on a mission to make sure people paid their taxes.
Joseph Annan, who is in charge of Accra Central for the GRA and is in charge of enforcement, told reporters that the Chinese people let the dogs go as soon as they saw them on the site.
"We ran into some bad people today. "Dogs were let loose on us, but thanks to our security officers and the preventive staff, the dogs were put down," Mr. Annan said.
He also said that the case will be given to the Department of the Attorney General.
"The case will be looked into, and when the paperwork is done, it will be given to our legal unit for possible prosecution," he said.
Mr. Annan said that the Tax Enforcement Unit is a special group that is trained to deal with hostile situations. This is why the team was able to calm down the dogs.
"They were able to put an end to the trouble. A lot of Chinese people work here without paying the VAT, and when we come to enforce the law, they open their dogs. We will take care of them if they try to push us back."
The team went to Executive Quarry, Pilot Stone Quarry, Tonnisco Quarry, and Hao Xin Quarry, which are all quarries.
Mr. Annan said, "They are all Chinese companies that do business in Ghana without paying the VAT."
Before the exercise, the team did a previous operation in the Shai-Osudoku Municipality, where some quarry companies were shut down for not paying taxes.
Mr. Annan said that the GRA will focus on the Tourism and Hospitality Industry to make sure that the right taxes are paid during the holidays.
The GRA says that there will be close to 100 big events in December. The authority for tax compliance will keep a close eye on these events.