The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) collected a total of GHȼ7.4 billion in the first three months of the year, the Commissioner General, Mr. Emmanuel Kofi Nti, has announced.
The figure fell short of the GHȼ7.6 million, it had targeted for the period.
Addressing an annual retreat of the senior staff in Koforidua, Mr. Nti underlined the need to double their effort to hit the GHȼ34 billion the Authority had set to collect this year.
It was important for everybody to accept to work had, with renewed commitment and to be innovative to improve the revenue collection performance.
The Commissioner General warned of punitive sanctions against those caught colluding with taxpayers to cheat the state.
He indicated that officers, who came out with brilliant ideas to help the Authority achieve optimal performance, would be rewarded.
Mr. Nti added that the senior staff were going to be held to the performance contract they had signed.
He promised an open door policy and to move quickly to resolve any outstanding legal issues, which had held back staff promotions since year 2014.
He stated that his vision was to develop the GRA into the best public revenue mobilization institution in Africa.
Mr. Kwaku Kwarteng, a Deputy Minister of Finance, called for the GRA to find new ways of doing things to meet their collection target.
He pointed out that missing the revenue target could have implications – affect the implementation of the government’s programmes.
He asked the staff to be part of the change agenda and reject corrupt practices.