The Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, has disclosed that the authority has mobilised ¢13.3 billion in taxes for the first two months of 2023.
This shows 5 percent more than the ¢12.6 billion projected to be collected for the period.
Dr Owusu-Amoah disclosed this on a yet-to-be aired PM Express Business Edition with host George Wiafe on Joy News at 9PM on 9th March, 2023.
He is hopeful the authority will be able to meet its end of year projection.
This, he explained is due to the fact that economic activities are low during the first quarter of the year, however, the inflows look positive.
“If we have been able to do this in these times, then one can say that the outlook remains positive going forward”, he said.
“We are confident of exceeding the target for this year because if you look at Year-on-Year growth, it is 52 percent more than the initial 40 percent year-on-year growth” he added.
What influenced the collection?
Dr. Owusu-Amoah explained that a multiple reasons can be linked to the strong growth in revenue for the first two months of this year.
According to him, staff dedication , improved invigilation by its officers and technology contributed significantly to the numbers going up more than what it was projected.
“We cannot forget some of the electronic initiatives that we had implemented from the last quarter of 2022” he said adding that “we are looking at being very heavy on technology going forward for 2023”.
Dr. Owusu-Amoah said the Authority has come very far with filing taxes online and reducing the collection of cheques at the various GRA offices.
2023 full year target
Government has tasked the GRA to collect ¢106 billion for 2023, representing a Year-on-Year growth of 40 percent.
According to the GRA, some of its measures aimed at achieving the target include the full automation of its operations and deployment of technology in revenue collection.
2022 Revenue target
The GRA was to collect ¢ 71.94 billion in 2022.
However, the authority was able to mobilize, ¢75.54 billion by the end of last year.
The 2022 numbers showed that the GRA grew tax collections by more than 30 percent.
The Authority was supposed to collect a little over ¢ 80 billion. The target was however reviewed downwards due to the COVID-19 shocks on the economy.
Is the tax collection target realistic?
Dr. Owusu-Amoah rejected claims that the GRA does not set realistic targets hence is able always to exceed its projections.
The commissioner maintained that there has been significant growth in tax collection
“You will realised that when it comes to the Year-on-Year numbers there has been significant increase , For instance from 2020 to 2021, growth in collections stood at 26.5 percent ,which was the highest over the last 10 years” he added.
Providing some analysis, Dr. Owusu-Amoah said a careful look at numbers showed that there has been significant growth monitoring of businesses. He is optimistic that the GRA will be able to reach the 19 percent target to GDP soon.
Impact of Ghana card on tax collections
Dr. Owusu-Amoah attributed some of the successes chalked in revenue collection to the introduction of the Ghana cards.
“It has given us a better picture in terms of those who are supposed to pay taxes to the state”.
E-Levy performance
According to the GRA, it collected ¢ 103 million through the E-Levy platform in December 2022.
In January 2023, the authority was able to realize ¢ 87 million through same.
The Finance Minister in the 2023 Budget reduced the percentage charge for the levy to 1 percent. However ¢100 daily exemption was not approved by parliament.