Ghana Revenue Authority commences operation in 2012
By Fred SARPONG
Indications at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) project office show that the full operation of the authority will start in two years’ time.
The Value Added Tax (VAT) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which will fall under the authority, will be fully automated by the end of the year under the new name of Domestic Tax which, although under the GRA, will have its own commissioner.
This is to solve the thorny issues of revenue mobilization and meeting targets affecting government’s revenue institutions, including Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS.
The GRA, which will have one Commissioner General as the head, has already begun educating stakeholders on its operations. Currently, targets are still being set by the various revenue agencies separately.
Meanwhile, BusinessWeek learnt that the President, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, has already nominated the Commissioner-General whose name would be announced soon.
The Project Manager of the GRA, Sampson Hammond, said after the integration, the problem of not meeting targets will be a thing of the past under the new administration.
According to him, GRA, at the initial stages, will concentrate on mopping up all current taxes rather than widening the tax net.
The new system will reduce by more than 50% personal contact with tax payers, in order to also avoid corruption.
About US$104 million, being provided by the government of Ghana and its development partners, is expected to be spent on building infrastructure and training of staff of the GRA.
As earlier indicated, the GRA will have a Commissioner-General as the head and there will be three major divisions under it, namely the Domestic Tax Revenue Service, the Customs Service and the Support Service, each headed by a Commissioner.
Taxpayers will be segmented into three identifiable groups, based on defined criteria, which are Large, Medium and Small.
Tax collection will be reorganized on functional lines rather than tax type; business processes of domestic taxes, as well as customs operations, would be re-engineered and modernized to increase efficiency.
By Fred SARPONG
Indications at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) project office show that the full operation of the authority will start in two years’ time.
The Value Added Tax (VAT) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which will fall under the authority, will be fully automated by the end of the year under the new name of Domestic Tax which, although under the GRA, will have its own commissioner.
This is to solve the thorny issues of revenue mobilization and meeting targets affecting government’s revenue institutions, including Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS.
The GRA, which will have one Commissioner General as the head, has already begun educating stakeholders on its operations. Currently, targets are still being set by the various revenue agencies separately.
Meanwhile, BusinessWeek learnt that the President, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, has already nominated the Commissioner-General whose name would be announced soon.
The Project Manager of the GRA, Sampson Hammond, said after the integration, the problem of not meeting targets will be a thing of the past under the new administration.
According to him, GRA, at the initial stages, will concentrate on mopping up all current taxes rather than widening the tax net.
The new system will reduce by more than 50% personal contact with tax payers, in order to also avoid corruption.
About US$104 million, being provided by the government of Ghana and its development partners, is expected to be spent on building infrastructure and training of staff of the GRA.
As earlier indicated, the GRA will have a Commissioner-General as the head and there will be three major divisions under it, namely the Domestic Tax Revenue Service, the Customs Service and the Support Service, each headed by a Commissioner.
Taxpayers will be segmented into three identifiable groups, based on defined criteria, which are Large, Medium and Small.
Tax collection will be reorganized on functional lines rather than tax type; business processes of domestic taxes, as well as customs operations, would be re-engineered and modernized to increase efficiency.
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