An internal investigation undertaken by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) on the alleged issuance of fake Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) has concluded that there is no substance to the claims.
This was contained in a response letter from the Commissioner General of the GRA, Mr. Emmanuel Kofi Nti which was sent to the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) to clear the air on the existence of fake TINs.
The Authority told this paper they crosschecked from all their regional offices and such claims were not authenticated, adding that stringent measures have been put in place to ensure a rigid system of issuance of the TINs – which prevent people from issuing out fake TINs and certificates to the public.
It will be recalled that during the launch of the first Quarterly Multi-stakeholder Business Integrity Forum organized by the GII in Accra in October 2018, the Goldstreet Business reported that a participant at the programme made claims of the issuance of fake TINs circulating in the economy to Mr. Nti, stressing that such happenings have badly affected the prospects of some of her colleagues from getting contracts.
Answering the claim, the Commissioner General expressed worry over the allegations, stating that his outfit was going to conduct intense investigations and if proven to be true such officers found culpable would not be spared.
However, after the investigations had been completed it emerged that the GRA did not find any evidence proving that such instances exist.
This came to the fore during the second regional multi-stakeholder dialogue Business Integrity Forum in Accra, which was under the auspices of the GII in collaboration with the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF).
The forum was meant to promote good business environment through ethics, integrity, transparency and accountability to ensure a corruption free business environment.
Meanwhile, as a measure to ensure a corruption free business environment, the GRA, has instituted a reward system for informants, especially where such information leads to the retrieval of monies.
According to the GRA, the reward structure is tied to the money or properties that are retrieved from the operation.
By Dundas Whigham