United Steel Company Refutes Tax Evasion Claim

The management of United Steel Company Limited has refuted claims that the company has evaded tax to the tune of $86,059,463. It said the allegation made by the presidential task force through the media was far from the truth but intended to bring the names of reputable companies into disrepute. A statement issued by the company said the presidential task force did not do any due diligence before issuing its press statement to the public. It said the data on which the task force based its statement showed that three of the entries made against the company (United Steel) belonged to another company. It said additional three entries were repetitions against it (United Steel). The statement explained that a thorough check of its records�verified by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA)�showed that all that the company had utilised from the bonded warehouse had been duly paid for, stressing that the company was one of the highest tax paying companies to the GRA. It said the company�s tax records at the GRA attested to that fact and urged the task force to do due diligence before issuing such statements which tended to tarnish and destroy reputable companies doing genuine business. It was of the conviction that if the task force had done its due diligence, institutions such as the Customs Division, the Tema Oil Refinery, Electricity Company of Ghana, Hippo Limited and CCTC, among other companies, would not be refuting the claims of the task force. The Presidential Task Force recently issued a statement claiming that more than 280 private and public companies had been cited for allegedly evading the payment of taxes, amounting to $367 million over a seven-year period. A presidential task force uncovered the alleged massive tax fraud which was perpetrated in bonded warehouses in Accra between 2005 and 2012.