The Registrar General’s Department has extended the deadline for filing tax returns from May 4, 2018, to May 31, 2018.
The extension of the date was necessitated by the huge numbers that thronged the Registrar General’s Department to file their tax returns on the final day, overwhelming the staff.
Speaking to Citi Business News on the issue, the Registrar General, Mrs. Jemima Oware maintained that, this is the last time the department will extend the deadline since some Ghanaians delay in paying their taxes.
She explained that the department sent SMS to all customers who have defaulted in filing their tax returns.
“We put out an SMS that, we will now institute the penalty regime by May 5th, and that has triggered all this. Many people got their messages on the weekend and so they just had one week within which to file their annual returns,” she said.
Mrs. Oware stated that businesses were also sent messages to renew their licenses or lose their status.
“Businesses or business names who are also supposed to renew their businesses also received messages for the first time otherwise in the law, their business names will elapse”.
She stated that the department decided to dispatch the messages to the businesses particularly due to cases in which people have run their registered businesses for years but have not renewed their licenses.
“All along they carry on their businesses without ever bothering to come and renew it to keep their names on the register. Some of them have been registered since 2011 they’ve never bothered to renew it. They got the message and this what has created the panic,” she said.
Mrs. Oware stressed that the department will not extend the new deadline after it elapses on May 31, 2018.
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By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana