North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has raised serious allegations against Rock City Hotel, asserting that the establishment did not file taxes for two years yet managed to obtain a tax clearance certificate.

Mr Ablakwa produced documents to support his claims, emphasizing that the hotel, located in the Eastern Region, has been incurring significant losses.

Earlier, Ablakwa stated that Rock City Hotel was unprofitable and mentioned he had documents to substantiate his assertion. This claim was met with strong opposition from the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, who owns Rock City Hotel. Acheampong dismissed Ablakwa's claims, challenging him to provide evidence.

"Rock City is not making losses. There is no one anywhere who can say that Rock City is making losses. I saw Okudzeto and Sammy Gyamfi in the studio exaggerating. Okudzeto was in a smock exaggerating that Rock City is making losses and that he has intercepted documents from GRA," Bryan Acheampong stated.

In response to this challenge, Ablakwa presented his evidence on Accra-based Metro TV. He detailed that on March 12, 2021, Rock City Hotel reported to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) that they would make losses for that year.

"Then two years later, they returned on the 9th of March 2023 and did a debit adjustment that they had two withholding taxes, which came up to 20,782. And that's all you have for 2021. So they told the GRA on the 12th of March that that year, they will make losses,” Ablakwa said.

Ablakwa further noted that for the year 2022, there were no tax filings at all. He revealed that it was only after he exposed this issue and reported to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) on May 17 that Rock City Hotel rushed to the GRA.

"So you see here, 23rd May 2024 that - we now want to come and make do our tax obligations for 2022, for two years ago," he added.

Ablakwa clarified that Rock City Hotel should have filed their taxes by June 2023 but failed to do so, which by the rules necessitates a penalty.

He emphasized that when Rock City Hotel submitted their bid, they clearly did not have a tax clearance certificate. After his exposure, they hurriedly went to the GRA on May 23, 2024, and initially reported losses for 2022.

However, the same day, they amended their records to report a profit, incurring a tax liability of 395,000 Ghana cedis and a penalty of 4,390 Ghana cedis.

Ablakwa questioned how Rock City Hotel obtained a tax clearance certificate to participate in the bid despite not filing taxes for two years. He highlighted the inconsistencies in the hotel's tax filings and the timing of their actions following his revelations.

"According to the SSNIT statement that was put out on the 19th of May, a copy of which I have here, if you look at the timelines, they said they started this process in 2018 and got the transaction advice in 2018. Then they started the bid for the hotel purchase, the tender, for the sale of the hotels in 2022. So you hadn’t filed your taxes for two years. How did they get a tax clearance certificate to participate in the bid?" Ablakwa questioned.

Furthermore, Ablakwa disclosed that in 2023, Rock City Hotel filed their taxes on April 20, declaring that they would make losses that year. He pointed out the discrepancy between the hotel's financial reports and their bid to purchase Labadi Beach Hotel, which is known to be profitable.

"So when I said that what you [Rock City Hotel] have told GRA about your operations last year - that you will make no profits and you are now going to buy a Labadi Beach Hotel - making a profit of one hundred and fifty-eight million, it should have been the other way round. Labadi Beach Hotel is more profitable. I was speaking to the documents, I was speaking to the intercepted filling at the GRA,” Ablakwa said.

He concluded by revealing that on March 31, 2024, Rock City Hotel informed the GRA that they did not expect to make a profit that year.

However, after his petition to CHRAJ, they returned on May 24, 2024, to adjust their records, indicating that they believed things were looking better.