GRA to release list of zero-rated spare parts

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) says it will release a list of selected spare parts that are exempted from duties following the Customs (Amendment) Act, 2017.

Parliament passed the Customs (Amendment) Bill, 2017 last week to exempt imported vehicle spare parts from duty.

The Act will favour importers and consumers of both new and used spare parts. However, imported vehicle tyres are not covered and so will continue to attract duties.

Remove confusion

At the Ghana-German Economic Association (GGEA) forum in Accra, the Commissioner-General of the GRA, Mr Emmanuel Kofi Nti, said the release of the list would resolve the confusion in people’s minds about which parts were eligible.

The event was on the theme, “Operationalising the recent tax reliefs as contained in the 2017 Budget and review of the Value Added Tax (VAT) Amendment Act 2017.”

Mr Nti explained that all spare parts came with a Harmonised System (HS) code which helped in easy identification, but the list would specify which kinds of parts would enjoy tax exemptions.

“When the list comes out finally, irrespective of the sector, be it manufacturing or vehicle spare parts, they will all be zero rated,” he said.

The GGEA forum brought stakeholders and members of the GGEA together to deliberate on what needed to be done to provide a conducive atmosphere for businesses to thrive.

Reforms

Mr Nti indicated that the GRA was changing its face to become more customer friendly where taxpayers would be seen as ‘clients and customers’ and not just taxpayers, adding, “We want to get to a point where GRA would be seen as high-level professionals.”

One of the reforms, he said, would be the establishment of a help desk to address the challenges of taxpayers, since they were key to the economic development of the country.

The Deputy Commissioner in charge of Policy and Programmes at the GRA, Mr Edward Gyamerah, assured clients that the GRA would always work in their interests, the reason for which some tax cuts were initiated by the government.

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The President of the GGEA, Mr Stephen Antwi, said the move to list all spare parts which were supposed to enjoy zero duties was laudable.

He said there was the need for clarity in the tax regime so that business owners would not be in doubt about their obligations to the state.

“The GRA must appreciate the challenges and the peculiarities these businesses are going through and try and see the kind of assistance they can give to them rather than always focusing on their tax collection,” Mr Antwi stressed.

Mr Antwi also welcomed the various tax cuts initiated by the government, noting that they were forward looking and would enhance business development. Read Full Story