From today, 1st April, 2021, the Ghana Card replaces the Taxpayer Identification Number of individuals issued by the Ghana Revenue Authority for tax identification purposes.
This change is in line with government’s policy on the use of a unique identifier for all transactions where the identification of an individual is required.
To ensure a seamless roll-out of this initiative, the GRA in a statement said registration officials of the National Identification Authority are currently stationed at 14 GRA offices across the country to register individuals who do not possess a Ghana card.
They include the Registrar General’s Department at Accra, Taxpayer Service Center at Adabraka – Accra, Taxpayer Service Center at Asokwa in Kumasi, Taxpayer Service Center at Wa and Taxpayer Service Center at Cape Coast.
Registration officials of the NIA will however eventually be stationed at 63 other GRA locations to serve all taxpayers.
The statement also said there will be a transition period from April 1st, 2021 to December 31st, 2021 where both the TIN and Ghana Card PIN may be used simultaneously as the unique number for tax identification purposes.
After this period, it is expected that all existing TINs will be replaced with the Ghana Card PIN.
A Self-Service portal has also been made available on the GRA website for existing taxpayers who have registered and have been issued with Ghana card to link their Ghana card PIN to their TIN.
Furthermore, any taxpayer with a Ghana card must present it at any GRA office to be registered as a taxpayer.
The GRA concluded saying, for transactions such as the filing of returns, payment of taxes, clearing of goods and registering of businesses, the Ghana card PIN should be quoted on the Application Forms, Returns and Schedules – supporting the transactions.
Source: Fiilafmonline/JoyNews
