Large Taxpayer Office

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GRA⋅Domestic Tax⋅Large Taxpayer Office

Large Taxpayer Office

The Large Taxpayer Office (LTO) is a department under the Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD) of the GRA operating as a specialised office which focuses exclusively on total tax administration of Large Taxpayers identified by the Authority.
The criteria for classifying existent and potential Large Taxpayers are companies and/or individuals involved in economic activities which yield or – per their sizes – are estimated to yield an annual turnover of GH₵5 million and above.
The category also comprises specialist industries irrespective of their turnover. Examples are upstream and midstream petroleum companies, banking institutions, insurance companies, mining companies except quarries, and members of groups of companies where at least one member qualifies as a large taxpayer. All large taxpayers are on a self-assessment regime and contribute approximately 70% of total Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD) tax revenue.
The department came to fruition as a result of modernising all domestic tax procedures for efficient use of resources in line with best practices in tax administration.
In that light, GRA seeks to offer improved taxpayer services that meet the specific needs of varied taxpayer groups in Ghana. Hitherto, the LTO has desks in almost all Taxpayer Service Centres (TSC) within the country. This is to bring our services closer and to increase efficiency in service delivery to Large Taxpayers.

Services the LTO Offers

The LTO is organised with the following operational functions:

Taxpayer Services/Returns and Payments Processing
Debt Management, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement
Audits and Objections

Taxpayer Services / Returns Payments Processing

The Taxpayer Service Unit is the first point of enquiry, coordination and follow-up with other LTO units.

The Unit’s functions include assisting taxpayers with the necessary information and education to enable them comply with all their obligations including non-tax obligations.

It undertakes the following:

Enquiries on all taxes
Processing of assessments and refunds
Requests for rulings and interpretations
Changes in registration and Taxpayer Identification Number
Enquiries and conduct of audits and enforcement actions
Changes to tax legislation and compliance obligations
Monitoring payment and lodgement dates and providing personal reminders of pending obligations
Assessing the level of services provided to large taxpayers
Recommending improvements in service to support voluntary compliance

The Unit also ensures the processing of returns and payments and lodges revenue collected.

Compliance Monitoring, Debt Management and Enforcement

This Unit ensures taxpayer filing and payment through voluntary compliance. It applies the necessary penalties and interests to late payment and filing, processes Tax Credit and Tax Clearance Certificates and makes recommendations to granting or otherwise of exemptions and other applications. The unit also ensures the management of tax arrears and enforces collection of overdue taxes through the use of legal compliance and enforcement tools including garnishments, seal offs and swoops.

Audit and Objections

The Audit Unit’s function is to improve taxpayer compliance through effective risk-based audit programmes and verification of taxpayer declarations through examination of books of accounts among others.

The compliance/risk-based audit programme is driven by the objective of ensuring completeness, accuracy and validity of taxpayer declarations and records. In the process of verifying correctness of taxpayer self-assessments, the unit may issue administrative/additional assessments to taxpayers.

Other Services Rendered at the LTO

The LTO secures tax revenue by providing auxiliary services to taxpayer obligations and assisting them with return filing and payments. Many others include:

Vetting and processing of taxpayer returns and payment cheques.
Receiving various taxpayer documents for appropriate action.
Handling taxpayer’s enquiries , requests and complaints.
Provision of customer-centric education and continuous advisory services to assist taxpayers in the discharge of various tax obligations
Provision of special attention to taxpayers with complex tax issues.

The office also discharges the tax administration’s legal as well as discretionary obligation within its mandate towards the taxpayers. These include consideration of and processing of the following:

Exemption applications.
Tax Clearance Certificate applications.
Tax credits processing.
Consideration and recommendation to the Commissioner - General regarding request for waivers.
Dialogue with taxpayer bodies on the way forward with tax administration in the country.

Categories of Large Taxpayers

Taxpayers with annual turnover of not less than GH₵5 million
All mining, petroleum and financial institutions
Subsidiary companies of companies in above-mentioned categories and other taxpayers identified by the Commissioner-General
Taxpayers with complex tax issues that need expertise