The NGO said making the application process easy and deepening education would enable qualifying individuals take advantage of the policy as announced by Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance in the 2020 Budget and Economic Policy.

Dr Emmanuel Ayifah, the Deputy Country Director of SEND Ghana, made the call on Wednesday whiles speaking at a media conference on the 2020 Budget and Economic Policy.

He said the announcement would contribute in no small way to lessen the burden on employees, especially those in lower income brackets, adding that besides the upward review of personal reliefs such as marriage relief, child education relief and old age relief was a step in the right direction.

Dr Ayifa said the GRA, as the institution with oversight responsibility in collecting taxes must be strengthened in all forms either legally or administratively.

He said the development of an abridged version of tax obligation documents by the GRA was commendable as it would help the Authority interface the public in a friendlier and customer focused manner.

He said tax revenues as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) were 16.9 and 16.5 respectively for 2017 and 2018, further declining sharply in 2019 to 13.1 per cent as the lowest amongst the three years.

This development, Dr Ayifa said, was a worrying trend as the median tax-to-GDP ratio worldwide was 26 per cent and 19.1 per cent in Africa adding that: "Our expectation is that government will aggressively address the shortfall. 

He said the Government's ambitious flagship programmes could not become possible if tax measures were not put in place to increase revenue levels.

Touching on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he said, there is the need to mandate the Ministries, Departments and the Agencies (MDAs) and the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to show the SDG goals and targets under each budget programme.

This, he said, would help to ensure that the SDGs budgeting become institutionalised in all MDAs and MMDAs and also help monitor MMDs/MMDAs performance on the SDGs.

Dr Ayifa said there is the need for government to adopt appropriate measures to enhance institutional collaboration and coordination at the national level to improve transparency and accountability.

He called on government to allocate adequate resources to support the implementation of child related policies and programmes, especially in the wake of high rates of teenage pregnancies, cases of defilement, and other forms child abuses.

Mr Siapha Kamara, the Chief Executive Officer of SEND West Africa, said the social conditions of people in Ghana, especially those in the northern parts of the country, are getting worse over the years.

He said inasmuch as government's priority on roads and education in the 2020 Budget are good, a more balanced approach must start with the human index, which hovers around health, sanitation and water as basic necessities.