Surfline head office closed down evading GH¢37 million tax

The head office of the internet service provider Surfline in Accra was on Tuesday, October 30, 2018, closed down by the Ghana Revenue Authority for defaulting in paying tax to the state.

The Ghana Revenue Authority embarked on the exercise to retrieve taxes owed the state.

Speaking to Journalists at the Surfline Head Office in Accra, Acting Assistant Commissioner at the Communications and Public Affairs Department of the GRA, Bobbie Ansah announced that Surfline owes taxes amounting to over 37 million Ghana cedis and as such Surfline has given a 10-day ultimatum to start making payment or face further action which could include a civil suit.

“Surfline owes more than thirty-seven million cedis in taxes, these taxes have accrued since 2015 and seeing that they do not have any available money to make payment we have locked up the company,” he said.

“We are giving them ten days to come up with a payment plan, if they are not able to pay by then, we will take the next line of action” he added.

Also, the Chief Revenue Officer at the GRA, Wisdom Xetor disclosed that the authority will have no option but to sell off some assets to defray the company.

“If after ten days the company has not been able to make any form of payment one of the options will be to sell off some of their assets,” he stressed.

In a related development, Glo Ghana escaped the near closure of its headquarters in Accra over a GHS10 million tax default October 31, 2018, but after a closed-door meeting with the GRA officials, the telecommunication company issued a cheque for GHS2 million out of the GHS10 million debt.

However, Kwasi Bobia-Ansah, the Assistant Commissioner Communication visit the GRA office to discuss timelines for paying the difference.