OSP uncovers ₵13.38m tax lapse in GRA payments to SML

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has revealed major tax irregularities in payments made by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) for downstream petroleum audit services—uncovering a ₵13.38 million lapse in statutory deductions.

At a press briefing on Thursday, October 31, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng disclosed that the GRA, despite being the nation’s central tax enforcement agency, failed to withhold statutory taxes when making automatic payments to SML.

“A central issue arising from the automatic payments by GRA to SML in respect of the downstream petroleum audit is that GRA, the central tax authority, failed to deduct statutory taxes totalling GH₵13,380,000.00,”
Mr. Agyebeng stated.

Although the Authority later offset the unpaid taxes on July 24, 2024, the OSP says an additional penalty of GH₵18.8 million remains outstanding.

Furthermore, the investigation revealed that SML still owes GH₵346,967.53 in unpaid PAYE (Pay-As-You-Earn) taxes.

The revelations form part of the OSP’s ongoing probe into the contractual relationships among the Ministry of Finance, the GRA, and SML—a matter already flagged for serious breaches of procurement, tax, and financial accountability laws.

The OSP noted that these lapses undermine the integrity and credibility of Ghana’s tax administration system, stressing that the failure of the GRA itself to comply with tax obligations raises fundamental concerns about internal control and governance.

Mr. Agyebeng hinted that the findings would inform further enforcement actions to ensure compliance, recovery of outstanding penalties, and possible prosecutions where culpability is established.