The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, says the decision by President Akufo-Addo to release the full KPMG report is not surprising.
The report indicated that from September 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021, a bulk payment to SML covering invoices for eight months, did not have Value Added Tax (VAT) and Withholding Tax (WHT) deductions amounting to GH¢13.38 million.
It stated that this contradicts GRA’s standard practice of deducting such taxes for payments to SML between June 1, 2020 and August 31, 2023.
Again, the report disclosed that the SML failed to fulfil its statutory obligations by neither filing returns nor remitting the taxes to GRA.
In a social media post [X], Mr Braimah stated that the President’s decision to release the report is “not surprising”.
He also urged the Presidency to better understand the exemption provisions to avoid similar situations in the future.
