Less than two million Ghanaians pay taxes

Economic news for Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Source: GNA

12/30/2020

About 1.5 million of Ghana’s six million eligible taxpayers pay taxes, which gives Ghana one of the lowest tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratios in Africa.

Ghana therefore has a long way to go to meet the average target of 17 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, which is above the country’s 13 percent mark, as its various governments have attempted over the years to move to l ‘ladder.

Mr. John Okyere, tax consultant and businessman, leaked them to the media in Accra at a broadcast meeting on promoting fairness in tax incentives / exemptions based on findings from dual research led by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC).

He said Ghana collects less taxes and relies mainly on foreign aid; International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Bond and others, but have lost huge amounts of leaks.

Mr Okyere said Ghana had lost $ 10 billion in tax exemptions over the past two years, saying there was a need to raise more funds through Domestic Revenue Mobilization (DRM).

Mr. Bernard Anaba, policy analyst at ISODEC, said that without taxes, governments could not plan and implement policies properly, adding that citizens should be involved in raising and spending taxes as they played an important role in national development.

Mr. Geoffrey Kabutey Ocancy, executive director of Revenue Mobilization Africa, said citizens should be educated on the appropriateness of paying taxes, noting that this would encourage voluntary compliance.

He said tax education should be introduced in the curriculum from primary to higher education to improve people’s understanding of the tax system.

There should also be an appropriate update on the location, ownership and type of use of the property in order to collect the right ownership rates from the assemblies to develop the country, he suggested.

Mr. Ocancy said that to increase tax collection, the tax net should be widened, train collectors and pass the tax exemption bill to regulate the exception regime effectively and efficiently.

The operations of free zones, said Ocancy, should also be regulated to improve the tax system.

Madame Beauty Nartey, Executive Secretary of the GACC, called on the government to put in place structures to capture online businesses for tax purposes.