The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), under the leadership of Commissioner-General Julie Essiam, has introduced a new compliance measure focusing on the foreign income of resident Ghanaians.
This initiative is intended to replace the suspended Value Added Tax (VAT) on electricity and is aimed at generating sustainable revenue beyond 2024.
Commissioner-General Essiam stated that while this measure is not new and has been part of the law for some time, it has not been effectively implemented until now.
“We [GRA] will specifically speak to the measure that is replacing the VAT on electricity. So, the measure that we put in place is a compliance measure on foreign income of resident Ghanaians.
“This measure is already in the law, as the minister said, so it is not a new measure. The difference is that its implementation and application have not been implemented effectively,” the GRA Commissioner-General said in her brief remarks at the joint IMF, BoG and Ministry of Finance presser held in Accra on April 13, 2024.
Essiam added that “The GRA, with support from the Organization for African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACD), has refined the processes and structures to ensure effective implementation.”
“So for us to implement this measure, we have, with the aid and assistance of the OACD, gone through sustainable processes and structures to ensure that when we implement this measure, the sustainability of this measure is going to go beyond 2024 in our revenue numbers.
“So this is the measure that, together with the Government of Ghana and our mother ministry, the Ministry of Finance, is going to take place or is going to replace the VAT on electricity,” she added.
This initiative is part of the Ghanaian government’s collaborative efforts with the Ministry of Finance to address the country’s fiscal needs, particularly in revenue mobilization.
Julie Essiam expressed confidence that this measure will not only be sustainable but will also effectively replace the projected revenue target of GH¢1.8 billion, signifying a significant change in the nation’s tax policy.