Bank accounts are one of the many services any Ghanaian without a Tax Identification Number (TIN), cannot have. It is part of the Ghana Revenue Authority’s drive to ensure all Ghanaians have registered for their TIN in order to widen the tax net.
To test the effectiveness of this regulation, I visited two banks in Accra with nationwide branches to experience how religiously they are complying with this regulation to make the project a success.
[contextly_sidebar id=”nTmycIKMzaok4LX2K9XVGna6XXEfoI7P”]At both banks, I posed as a prospective client who needed to urgently open a bank account for some international deals with my business partners for my project up North.
The client service executive at the first bank I visited simply told me all I needed were two passport sized pictures, a copy of my utility bill, and any of my national IDs. When I enquired about the TIN, the client executive was not forthright with me.
First, she said she will find out if I can have an account opened without the TIN because it came up during their morning meeting. She added that they are yet to decide when to implement it even though it is a month late.
Now when I asked if any prospective client has been turned away for not having the TIN in the recent past and if I also face a similar fate, she said yes.
At the second bank, the client service executive there repeated the same requirements without the TIN. When I asked if it is possible to open a bank account without my TIN, the client executive explained that it is possible. However, he said the bank will give me the TIN form, forward it to the Ghana Revenue Authority on my behalf and then text my TIN number to my mobile phone.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), announced that individuals without a Tax Identification Number (TIN), effective April 3, 2018, will not be allowed to acquire a Driver’s license, open a bank account, get a passport, transact business with the government, or register a business.
“One cannot transact business with these institutions if one does not have the TIN. One cannot clear goods from the ports, register land documents with the Lands Commission, obtain a Tax Clearance certificate from the GRA, open a bank account, register your company, and obtain payments for jobs or contracts done for the government,” he stressed.
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By: Caleb Kudah/citinewsroom.com/Ghana