The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has disclosed a tax revenue target of GHC45,447.26 billion for 2019 in comparison with its target of GH39,802.27 billion in 2018 at a media soiree held at Swiss-Spirit Alisa Hotel in Accra.
The event was held to fraternize with journalists and also acknowledge their role in aiding the GRA in its achievements and educating the public on tax compliance among others.
The Commissioner General, Mr Emmanuel Kofi Nti, said that there is an on-going discussion to review the revenue target upwards in line with government's objective of a Ghana Beyond Aid. He noted that though the authority missed their target for 2018 by GHC 2171.73 or -5.5%, they achieved a nominal growth of 16.4 per cent over their 2017 collection.
Domestic revenue, he said, grew by 24.4 per cent while Customs revenue grew by 3.9 per cent. He said that factors such as increase in compliance due to continuous monitoring of taxpayers, rigorous collection efforts and retrieval of arrears, delays in the implementation of the Excise Tax Stamp policy and the increase in goods imported into the country through suspense regimes and the impact of zero rated goods contributed to these figures.
He said that McKenzie Group, an international consulting firm, also played a role which helped them reach their target. Mr Nti stated that the GRA will intensify activities that will identify and plug revenue leakages, ensure full implementation of the Excise Tax Stamp Policy as the big industry players are now on board, ensure full implementation of the Tax Identification Number with the help of GRA staff and the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) interns as well as setting up the Informant Awards Scheme to award informants on revenue generated through their support. The soiree was attended by Commissioners and technical advisers of the GRA, management and staff as well as some journalists.