Volta Region wants transparency in seized vehicle sales

Participants at a Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Customs Division, Ho Sector Public Education Seminar on Tuesday have suggested more transparency in the disposal of seized vehicles.

They said it was unfair for vehicles seized in the Volta Region for example to be sold in Accra as the practice did not encourage co-operation from stakeholder agencies in helping to track down smuggled vehicles.

The programme was to brief participants about structural reforms which had put all organizations in the “tax collecting family” under one corporate regime.

Mr Robert Mensah, Chief Revenue Officer, Public Relations, advised prospective buyers of vehicles to ensure they did a background check on vehicles before purchase.

He said there had been times when people had tried to cheat the system by obliterating the chassis numbers of the vehicle engines.

Mr Ebenezer Kenney, Principal Revenue Officer, said sometimes punitive penalties on the seized cars put together could purchase a new vehicle and advised those wanting to buy used vehicles to contact Customs office for advice.

Mr William Apeadu, Chief Revenue Officer, said the notion that the Division normally set for itself very low targets was untrue and that targets were normally set for the Division by the Ministry of Finance.

Mr Apeadu said structural reforms made it possible for clients to do business faster as the various divisions only needed to key in tax identification numbers of clients to transact business with them.

He said it was no longer necessary to move from one Division to another with bundles of documents.

He said in the coming months there would be more linkages between the Customs Division and clients and also networking to make business transactions fluid.

Source: GNA