Revenue Administration Bill for Parliament soon

The Revenue Administration Bill is to be presented to Parliament soon to help facilitate the optimisation of revenue collection, the Tax Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Finance, Dr Edward Larbi-Siaw, has said.

Speaking at an award ceremony for Ghana Revenue Authority staff who distinguished themselves in the performance of their duties, Dr Larbi-Siaw said the bill would ensure increased efficiency in the collection of tax, improve tax administration and reduce obstacles to compliance.

Besides, the bill would allow the publication in the Gazette or other media, a list of persons who have failed to pay tax on time or who have been convicted of an offence under a tax law.

The bill would also touch on tax avoidance arrangements, circumstances under which remuneration would be paid by the Authority and the maintenance of taxpayer identification number and tax clearance certificates for the purpose of identifying taxpayer and promoting tax compliance.

Dr Larbi-Siaw said Ghana’s tax rates were not the highest in Africa and expressed the hope for tax administration improvement to make up for the loss of revenue from those sectors.

He commended the GRA staff for the 2015 performance, which results showed over-collection of 2.9 per cent over the target.

Mr George Blankson, the Commissioner-General of GRA, appealed to the staff to help mobilise and collect taxes to meet the revenue target for 2016, which is pegged at GH¢28.8 billion.

He said the key element in exceeding the 2015 revenue collection by GH¢630 million was the human resource of the GRA, and congratulated the 34 award winners and asked them to work harder than before to enhance performance and productivity.

The awards were given in three categories. Winners in the Best Worker, Junior Staff Category, the Senior Staff category and the Manager Category.

The winners took home digital television sets and fridges.

Source: GNA