GRA collects GH¢51.5bn, pledges to seal all loopholes

Total tax revenue collected by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for the first nine months of 2022 amounted to GH¢51.5 billion (GH¢51,580.17 million).

0.9% negative deviation

The Authority, therefore, fell short of its target for the period by GH¢466.61 million representing negative deviation of 0.9%.

Nominal growth rate of 29%
The revenue performance represents nominal growth rate of 29% over the same period compared to last year’s collection of 26%.

Domestic revenue grew nominally by 28.6%   while Customs revenue grew nominally by 29.8%

Strategies to seal loopholes

Addressing the media in Accra, Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah Commissioner-General said GRA is therefore adopting strategies to ensure that all loopholes are sealed with rigorous enforcement and compliance measures.

Cracking the whip

“We are leaving no stone unturned to achieve our revenue target for 2022. GRA is cracking the whip hard on all defaulting businesses this year,” he said.

Tax Courts

According to him, businesses have been dragged are before the Tax Courts on charges of failure to pay tax contrary to Section 80 of the Revenue Administration Act 2016 (Act 915) and failure to issue Value Added Tax (VAT) invoices on purchase of goods and services.

GRA Taxpayers portal
He explained that GRA’s taxpayers portal, an online self-service system allows taxpayers to file returns, initiate payments and access other tax related services such as Tax Clearnce Certificates (TCCS), apply for tax reliefs, withholding tax exemptions, refunds, update of taxpayer information can be accessed on any browser.

Electronic VAT invoicing

Rev. Dr. Owusu-Amoah noted that an Electronic VAT invoicing is being introduced to replace the current way of issuing invoices under VAT is fraught with abuses such as invoice cloning, carding and non-issuance of invoices amongst others with negative effects on domestic tax performance.

According to him, Electronic VAT has therefore been introduced to eliminate these irregularities identified and implementation will be done in phases starting October 1, 2022 and it will help GRA to monitor the issuance of invoices by taxpayers by certifying all invoices issued for the purpose of accounting and filing of VAT returns.

Excise Tax Stamp

The GRA Commissioner-General announced that a new Excise Tax Stamp Authenticator developed for scanning stamps on excisable products to ascertain whether the stamps are genuine or not will soon be launched.

Electronic Transactions Levy

He disclosed that the Electronic Transactions Levy (E-Levy) which commenced in May 2022 has raked in GH¢328.80 million as at September 2022.

“It is worth mentioning that, month-on-month basis we continue to see a 20% improvement in the collection of the levy

“It is therefore our expectation that this will continue and improve domestic revenue generation to support government expenditure,” he stated.

Electronic Auction

Rev. Dr. Owusu-Amoah disclosed that the Authority is piloting an e-auction module on the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) saying “E-auction has been developed and gone through some testing and now being uploaded with overstayed goods for further processing.

Electronic Tax Clearance Certificate

He said GRA has automated the process of obtaining Tax Clearance Certificates (TCCs). Taxpayers can now apply for TCCs electronically via the Taxpayers’ portal.

He said a USSD short code to be made public as soon as possible that will allow every Ghanaian to check on their tax compliance status has been acquired.

Informant awards

He stated that the Authority has instituted an Informant Award Scheme as a means of awarding individuals, entities or organizations who offer confidential information to the GRA leading to the recovery of tax.

He assured that the information one provides will be treated with the utmost confidentiality and where the information leads to the recovery of taxes, the informant will receive cash amounts in line with GRA’s Informant Policy.

He emphasized that the digitalization agenda remains on course with initiatives such as the Cashless mode of payment of taxes and levies, new modules in the ICUMS as well as the introduction of customer-focused initiatives to make tax payment easier and seamless.

Others Commissioners took turns to give highlights on the various initiatives under their respective Divisions.