The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has raised concerns over persistent VAT compliance challenges among businesses, saying some firms collect the tax from customers but fail to remit it to the government.
Commissioner-General of the GRA, Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, said the challenge remained a major gap in the country’s efforts to improve domestic revenue mobilisation.
Speaking at the 14th Annual International Tax Conference 2026, Mr Sarpong said the Authority’s assessment showed significant weaknesses in VAT registration and compliance among businesses.
So today, we are saying that four out of every business in Ghana correctly charges VAT. The remaining six, they do not register. Or when they register, they collect their money and it doesn’t end up with government,” he said.
He said the GRA was therefore combining technology with stronger compliance measures to improve VAT collection.
Sarpong said the implementation of the Fiscal Electronic Devices Act would allow most businesses to conduct transactions through government-approved devices, giving the GRA greater visibility over transactions in the economy in real time.
He said the technology would allow the Authority to monitor transactions as they occur and reconcile the amounts due at the end of the month.
However, he cautioned that technology alone would not resolve the compliance challenge, noting that the GRA’s pilot programme had exposed attempts by some businesses to circumvent the system.
The pilot we are undertaking is telling us that when our officers are on the field, the machine is working. As soon as we leave the shop, the machine stops working. So we are combining this with strong compliance to ensure that compliance and the use of technology will help us to improve VAT on the ground,” he said.
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