The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is set to introduce a Rent Tax App to aid the payment of the rent tax. The App is set to take effect before the end of 2021.
According to the Commissioner-General of the GRA, Rev. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, the Rent Tax App will contain data on every Ghanaian that will allow the Authority to know if a property is owner-occupied or rented. He explained that this will be possible once the GRA searches a person’s name using the App.
“For the good of everyone, we have introduced the rent tax app which has everyone’s data on it. This will not make it possible for anyone to hide from paying your taxes. If you have a property you are renting, start paying the rent tax. We should all be compliant with this new ideology. Currently, we have started implementing the app at Accra, Kumasi, Tema areas”.
Penalty for evasion
Furthermore, the Commissioner-General stated that the economic agents liable to pay the rent tax are businesses and individuals. He explained that these are people or businesses that receive income from leasing a property and an agency that qualifies to withhold tax. He further detailed the sanctions attributable to persons who fail to honour their tax obligations.
“Failure to pay your tax on rent income by the due date will attract an interest of 125% of the statutory rate compounded monthly. Remember to make available copies of all receipts of payment of rent tax for inspection by officers of Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA)”.
E-commence tax
Also, the Commissioner revealed that the authority will soon launch an E-commence tax for businesses that operate online. He pledged his outfit’s commitment towards implementing the E-commence tax before the end of the year.
“We are paying our corporate income tax; we are paying our VAT, but there are some areas like the e-commence where taxes are not paid for. We enjoy Netflix and other online business platforms which we are paying no taxes on, I want to assure you that by the end of this year E-Commence taxes will be introduced”.
Rent income accrues to someone as a result of letting or leasing a property to another person. The tax paid on rental income is referred to as Rent Tax. Rent Tax must be paid within 30 days after the rent income is received by landlords or property owners.
Rent tax rates
Meanwhile, there are two rent tax rates: 8% for residential premises and 15% for non-residential premises. All persons and businesses liable to the payment of the rent tax can do so at the nearest Domestic Tax Revenue Division Office and at all banks.
The government of Ghana, through its policy initiatives, is stepping up efforts to improve domestic revenue mobilization in the country. As a result, the GRA has outlined several initiatives to improve revenue mobilization in the country.
Last week, the Deputy Minister-designate for the Finance, John Kumah hinted of the Revenue Assurance Compliance and Enforcement (RACE) program. This, according to him, will help the government to efficiently tax the informal sector.
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