Under the leadership of Commissioner-General Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has achieved unprecedented success by exceeding the authority’s revenue objectives over a three-year period.
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The GRA was able to produce GH 178.16 billion between 2020 and 2022, exceeding its revised projections of GH 42.7 billion, GH 57.02 billion, and GH 71.94 billion for the following three years of 2020, 2021, and 2022, respectively. The GRA went over budget by GH6.5 billion (3.79%), or its goal amount.
The GRA’s dedication to implementing technological innovations, which increased transparency and efficiency in tax administration, is responsible for this exceptional success. Despite the difficulties encountered during the Covid-19 outbreak, the Customs Management System significantly helped the country surpass its income goals for 2020.
The triumph was also made possible by the hard work of the GRA employees and the support of the taxpayers. In order to increase tax collection, the authority plans to quadruple its efforts in 2023, and the Commissioner-General has pledged that his office would keep up its enforcement of tax compliance.
Taxpayers are asked to voluntarily comply with tax requirements so that the country can raise enough money for development.
The GRA was able to surpass its revenue goals in 2016 and 2018, but fell short in 2017 and 2019. This was before to the 2020 pandemic year.
The Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS), which replaced the old system for customs clearance, was put into place by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in 2020. The new technology was designed to enhance tax collection, increase efficiency, and decrease revenue leaks in the customs procedure.
The Authority has been working to digitize its procedures in an effort to increase productivity and lower corruption. For instance, the GRA introduced a digital platform in 2020 that allows taxpayers to access its services, such as submitting tax forms and paying taxes.
The GRA launched a number of efforts during the 2021 fiscal year to enhance voluntary compliance in the filing of returns, the payment of taxes, and to guarantee maximum revenue collection. The TIN/Ghana Card Policy, Prosecution Policy, and Cashless Policy were some of these initiatives.
The GRA exceeded its goal despite the pandemic’s problems, and IT solutions like ICUMS and ITaPS reduced tax evasion and avoidance by making it simple for taxpayers to comply with their tax duties.
To increase compliance and increase revenue from wealthy taxpayers, the GRA also expanded the Large Taxpayer Office (LTO), developed a digital tax stamp system, and strengthened tax education and sensitization initiatives. To increase tax compliance and decrease revenue leaks, the Authority substantially reinforced its tax audit and investigative departments.
The GRA highlighted new tax methods in 2022 to help the government reach its revenue goal, including taxing e-commerce, requiring large taxpayers to file their taxes online, and beginning in April 2022, taxing the online gaming and betting sectors. The Authority also plans to enhance the penetration of value-added tax (or “VAT”) on online services and goods.
The GRA also intends to increase the pay-as-you-earn (“PAYE”) data by adding at least 2 million additional taxpayers to the database, enlarging the tax base to around 3 million by the end of December 2022, and using property tax as leverage to raise rent tax by the same date.
The Authority also plans to introduce a debt collection ratio of five percent (5%) or less by the end of December 2022 and to step up auditing and taxing the extractive industries.
The Ghana Revenue Authority collected GH45.338 billion in 2020 vs GH42.7 billion in the previous year, exceeding its increased income target by 6%. At the same time last year, this represented an increase of 3.3%. The Authority initially set a target of GH 47.25 billion, which was subsequently lowered in light of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects.
The Authority’s Customs Division performed admirably, collecting GH12.6 billion, or 4.5% more than expected, compared to its goal of GH10.9 billion.
Moving on to 2021, the GRA met its revenue goal of GH57.02 billion by bringing in little over GH57.32 billion, a growth rate of 26.3% over the revenue for 2020 and the biggest annual rise in the previous ten years.
The Domestic Tax Revenue Division performed admirably, bringing in GH41.23 billion, a 25.6% increase over the division’s revenue performance in 2020. The Customs Division also did well, collecting $16.08 billion, which is a 26.8% rise from the performance in 2020.
The GRA exceeded their goal of GH75.5 billion in domestic revenue in 2022 by GH3.60 billion, or 5% more than the GH71.94 billion aim set for the year before. By accomplishing this milestone, the GRA was able to raise 31.5% more domestic revenue than it did in 2021.
