The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), as part of efforts to improve its operations this year, enquired from the general public which areas they think the Authority should improve upon.
According to an opinion poll on the Authority’s Twitter handle, 49 percent of the respondents urged the GRA to improve upon tax education in the country. If this is done, Ghanaians believe, the GRA will be able to mobilize enough resources to aid the government in its developmental programs, especially at a time when the cost of borrowing is soaring and becoming riskier for the country to borrow, even if investors are willing to lend to the country.
“There is poor tax education in Ghana and mismanagement too”, said @G_Borngreat, one of the respondents.
After tax education, another important area Ghanaians expect GRA to improve is the clearing of goods at the ports. Per the poll, 24 percent of respondents expect the Authority to improve the processes involved in clearing of goods at the port. Despite the implementation of the paperless port, which was expected to decongest the port and make clearing of goods easier, most importers still complain about the difficulties they go through in clearing their goods at the various ports across the country.
Therefore, this coming as the second most important area that the public thinks the GRA should improve in 2022, further highlights the frustrations that people go through clearing their goods, aside the numerous taxes they have to pay.
Online filing of tax returns
Aside difficulty in clearing of goods, respondents also believe the GRA must improve upon its online filing of tax returns and payment of taxes. Per the poll, 22 percent of respondents expect the Authority to improve on its online filing and payment.
Five percent (5%) of respondents also listed other areas of operations such as mismanagement, tax exemptions and tax compliance visits. Kweku Targaryen, one of the respondents, urged the GRA to automate the process of the withholding tax credit certification to make it more efficient.
“Automate the withholding tax credit certification process. Withholding tax sufferers deserve to instantly receive a digital signature (QR Code, reference number or something) confirming the amount deducted, and all relevant info once the Tax payer deducts and pays WHT online”.
Kweku Targaryen
Another respondent, Kosi Attipoe, urged the Authority to try and bring in the informal sector workers into the tax net.
“For the informal sector, arrange a pro rata tax handle for them. For example, if you are a mason, regardless of the part of the country you work, you must pay Ghc10 income tax”.
Kosi Attipoe
Only few Ghanaians pay tax
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, revealed that less than 10 percent of Ghana’s population of 30.8 million were registered as tax payers as at August 2021.
Mr. Ofori-Atta also indicated that only 45,109 entities are registered as corporate taxpayers while 54,364 persons were registered as self-employed taxpayers at the Ghana Revenue Authority. Only 136,198 entities were registered businesses at the Registrar-General’s Department as at August 2021 of which 80 percent are classified as self-employed, the Minister stated.
Mr. Ofoi-Atta lamented that “compared to our peers within the middle-income bracket, these statistics are a poor reflection on us and we need to change the narrative. We must urgently work together to simplify our processes to ensure that the millions of our fellow Ghanaians both in the informal and formal sectors contribute their quota towards our transformation agenda”.
The minister’s statement and the recent poll show that more resources should be committed to improving tax education in government’s quest to increase domestic resource mobilization in the country. Overall, a total of 297 respondents took part in the poll that ran from December 30, 2021 to January 4, 2022.
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