The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), says it has mobilized tax revenues amounting to GH¢183,559,837.70 between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016, following the introduction of the Special Revenue Mobilization Task Force in 2015.
This suggests an increment of GH¢44,732,633.79 in revenue collection in 2016 as compared to the GH¢138,827,203.91 collected in 2015.
Speaking at a press briefing at the GRA Headquarters in Accra, Mr Henry Sam, the National Compliance Coordinator of the GRA, said the collection performance mainly came from Tax Compliance Checks undertaken by the eight Task Force Monitoring Teams using third party information obtained from the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (GIFMIS), Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) and Registrar General’s Department (RGD) among others.
The Authority found major irregularities in the course of mobilizing tax revenues in the period under review.
According to Mr. Sam, poor record keeping, non submission of tax returns by some registered taxpayers, failure to provide valid invoices or receipts, double and multiple financial statements as some of the irregularities they discovered during their operations in 2016.
Other challenges, he said, included over reliance on provisional assessment as Final Tax, concealed income and false claim of exemptions without documentary proof among others.
“Irregularities did not only constitute infractions of the Tax Laws and Regulations but also tax evasion. Hence the Tax Compliance Checks to block revenue leakages to maximize Tax Revenues,” he said.
To sustain gains made in the recovery of hidden taxes, the Special Revenue Mobilization Task Force has intensified the Tax Compliance Checks in 2017.
The GRA through the Special Revenue Mobilization Task Force urged tax payers who are in arrears to voluntarily regularize their tax issues to avoid penalties.
