The Commissioner-General of Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, has revealed that tax compliance would soon be the yardstick for land and vehicle registration in the country. He explained that the ability of individuals to register their property with the Land Commission and Diver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) would be dependent on their tax compliance.
According to him, a proposal had been tabled and waiting approval from the Finance Ministry and Parliament. The Commissioner-General disclosed this while answering questions at a media engagement in Accra on Friday, where discussions centered on issues and policies being implemented by the Authority.
He said the Land Commission or DVLA would track applicant’s tax compliance, using their Ghana Card, which would be a requirement for registration. He, therefore, advised the public to file their annual tax returns to prevent any eventuality or denial. He informed editors and senior practitioners of the media fraternity that the move was to ensure compliance, and enhance tax mobilisation in the country.
Sealing Revenue Leakage
As part of revenue mobilisation and enforcement measures, the Commissioner-General added that the Authority had set up a system and stationed officers at the major retail centers to collect data on transactions. He was sure that this would further address the understatement of Value Added Tax by enterprises.
“Additionally, GRA is cracking the whip hard on all defaulting businesses this year. Some businesses have been brought 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 VAT invoices on purchase of goods and services,” he stated.
E-auction
He further indicated that a pilot online programme had been commissioned as part of the move to address public concerns about the auction of state properties. According to him, the pilot programme, christened ‘Electronic Auction (E-Auction)’, would take off later in October, with 15 vehicles on auction at icums.gov.gh.
Although the GRA boss was confident that the approach was for the common good of the country, the Association of Auctioneers of Ghana had kicked against the development, since the automated auction system did not include them, and fears were that its members may be kicked out of business.
The Authority expects that the E-Auction would increase revenue, bring about transparency, and harmonisation of the auction system, as well as ensure that interested parties interact directly with the Authority and not individuals.
E-Levy
Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai added that revenue from the electronic transfer levy (E-levy) was increasing a month on month basis by 20 percent. “We commenced the implementation of this levy in May 2022. Revenue from E-levy, as at September 2022, amounted to GH¢328.80 million,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the government has revised this year’s revenue target for E-levy to GH¢611 million – A revised figure of initially GH¢6.9 billion and GH¢4.9 billion. He pointed out that the The Authority has ended a post implementation survey on E-levy, designed to identify challenges, address concerns and seal loopholes in the electronic money transfer system.
“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 added.
E-TCC and E-Ivoicing
The implementation of the Electronic Tax Compliance Certificate (E-TCC) and Electronic Invoicing (E-invoicing) were equally to ensure tax compliance. For instance, the E-voicing hopes to address forgery, overstatement of invoice of VAT input or output, high cost of tax audit, lack of data for effective compliance as well as carding of invoice.
On tax mobilisation, he said “it has been a fairly good third quarter for GRA. In terms of revenue, we have been able to make some gains due to our collective resolve to achieve our target.” He noted that at the end of the third quarter, a total tax revenue of GH¢51,580.17 million was collected for the period as against a target of GH¢52,046.78 million.
