A last minute efforts by management of the Accra Mall saved the shopping centre from being closed down Wednesday morning by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) over a GHC2.3 million debt.
An audit by the GRA revealed managers of the Mall between 2013 and 2015 under-declared the taxes paid to the State.
They have since September this year failed to pay the amount totaled GHC2,306,625, inclusive accrued penalties, despite notices served the management of the Mall in September and October 2017.
As part of a national tax exercise currently being undertaken by the GRA, revenue officials stormed the premises of the Mall Wednesday morning to close down the facility which is the first large-scale shopping centre opened in Accra.
READ: GRA officials besiege Accra Mall to close it down over GHC2m tax debt
But management of the Mall immediately took steps after a meeting with revenue officials, to settle the full amount to avoid a closure of the Mall.
For about an hour, managers of the Mall were at the banking hall of the Accra Mall Stanbic Bank where they processed a banker’s draft covering the full amount while revenue officials waited to receive same before leaving the premises.
The Accra Mall, which was the first large-scale shopping centre to be commissioned in Ghana on July 4, 2008, has 20,000 square metres of retail space with parking for over 900 cars.
It accommodates more than 65 line-shops of which 30 per cent are said to be operated by Ghanaian retailers. By
By Stephen Kwabena Effah|3news.com|Ghana