Tax Breaks: the way to Position Ghana

Broaden taxation net to help government to self-finance interventional projects and sustain it for the benefit of the country and the future generation. Addressing Chief Executive Officers of Hotels, civil society organizations, CEPs and GRA officials, Pre-Budget Tax Consultative Meeting at Tamale, Mr. Daniel Nuer, Head of Tax Policy Unit of the Ministry of Finance encouraged Ghanaians to adopt regular payment and filling of tax returns. Mr. Nuer in a presentation disclosed that, governments will not rely on international aid to finance developmental projects if the taxation net is expanded to include other potential tax contributors rather than the few the country is depending on. He lamented on how some firms are exempted from paying TAX despite the huge profits these firms make. Comparing tax to Gross Domestic Product ratio of Ghana to other countries, Mr. Nuer said, the current taxation policies set by the Commissioner General will aid successive governments have accurate tax amounts generated from tax payers to facilitate development and reduce the dependency on foreign aids. He emphasized on the interests that the country will gain if we are able to finance some developmental projects adding that, over the past several years, revenue mobilization in this country has not kept pace with the ever-growing demands of citizens for development projects and better services from government. According to Mr. Nuer, annual revenues however have not been able to keep up with these demands creating a deficit which has to be bridged through government borrowing or through support from donor partners. Mr. Lawrence Hotsonyame, an official from Ghana Revenue Authority encouraged Tax payers to take advantage of the tax amnesty is a limited-time opportunity for taxpayers and potential taxpayers who have defaulted in any of their four basic TAX obligations in exchange for forgiveness of and or in some cases the tax, interests and penalties without fear of prosecution. According to Mr. Hotsonyame, the Value Added Tax (Amendment) (No.2) ACT,2017 (Act 954) which institutes Withholdings Value Added Tax (WVAT) is a mechanism to account for and pay Value Added Tax on the supply of goods and services by the person making the payment. The act also gives the Commissioner General the mandate to appoint Withholding VAT agents to withhold a portion of VAT on payments made to a VAT registered supplier and then Agent remit to GRA and this not a new tax but a method of collecting VAT. In a public discourse, participants shared grieves on projects financed with tax payer’s money that yields no benefit to the country.  
 Some participants urged the government in the coming budget disclose how the taxes generated by GRA are being used to encourage prospective tax payers.