This is a way of saying, you can’t run way from tax by underquoting the quantity of your goods to the tax man. Ghana’s tax man, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has launched a mobile app called Ghana Tax Stamp Authenticator to help Ghanaians check the authenticity of the products they buy and consume.
Here Is All You Need To Know
- For those Ghanaians considering suing the tax man, there is a way out for the GRA. The launch of the mobile app adequately complies with the Excise Tax Stamp Act 2013 (Act 873) which was implemented in January 2018 and enforced on March 1 in Parliament.
“The essence of the tax policy is to enable GRA to monitor the exact quantities declared by manufacturers and importers for tax purposes. As such, the genuineness and authenticity of the tax stamp is of prime importance to GRA. The production of any fake stamp will, therefore, defeat the purpose of the policy,’’ said the Commissioner-General of GRA, Emmanuel Kofi Nti who spearheaded the launch of the Ghana Tax Stamp Authenticator app on Tuesday, August 13, 2019 re-echoed that
Free For All
Although free for all, the Ghana Tax Stamp Authenticator app is available in the interim for android users and can only be accessed by Ghanaians using smartphones with a 5.0 version.
“To help GRA detect the genuineness of the stamp, the Authority came up with a device, the Bar Code Scanner at the beginning of the enforcement of the policy but these gadgets are only with staff of the Authority, thus being of limited use….therefore, the GRA has developed a mobile app, the Ghana Tax Stamp Authenticator to aid the process. Now, the app to detect whether the tax stamp on the product you are consuming is authentic or not is here,’’ said Mr. Nti.
Mr Nti, therefore, called on Ghanaians to be conscious of the consumables they buy urging them to report to GRA of any fake tax stamps affixed on products they scan with their phones.
He added that, when Ghanaians report imitated products with these fake tax stamps, they are in a way saving the lives of people from unscrupulous men.
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Here’s how to install the app on your Android phone
1. Go to play store on your Android v5.0
2. Search for Ghana Tax Stamp Authenticator app
3. Click on the app to install.
4. Tap on the installed app and allow it to access your location, photos, videos.
Chief Revenue Officer schools Ghanaians on how to use Ghana Tax Stamp Authenticator App
How to use the app on your phone
After installing the app and want to use it, first get any excisable product with the tax stamp affixed on it.
Open the app on your phone and start scanning the tax stamp.
The app will automatically display the details of the product scanned including the organization and metric names, the origin of the products as well as the Human Readable (HR) code.
Click here to watch a live demo of the Ghana Tax Stamp Authenticator app
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.