The Ghana Revenue Authority is confident of meeting its revenue target for 2019 having collected more than 70 percent of the target set for this year.
The Commissioner-General for the Authority, Amishaddai Owusu Amoah, says enough measures have been put in place to ensure that the GH¢45 billion domestic revenue target set by the government is met by close of the year.
The government has for the past three years struggled to meet its domestic revenue target and this has resulted in cut down in planned expenditure such as spending on infrastructure and other key areas.
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A strong performance in domestic revenue will grant the government the opportunity of spending in areas such as capital infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, and schools.
The last time the Ghana Revenue Authority met its domestic revenue target was in 2015 where it exceeded its target by more than GH¢600 million.
Measures put in place
Touching on the Value Added Tax (VAT), Mr. Amoah expressed concern about tax infractions by companies, which prevented the country from getting the needed revenue for developmental purposes.
He said there were serious violations of tax laws, a situation where some companies had falsified VAT invoices and made misleading statements about their tax returns.
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Mr. Amoah said four traders were currently facing prosecution for violating tax laws, urging the public to do well to honor their tax obligations.
On debt collection, he said most companies owed the GRA and as part of the campaign to retrieve the money, it had written to the organizations to settle their debts or face the full rigours of the law.
In line with that, the Authority, in September 2019, launched a task force dubbed: “Operation Collect, Name and Shame†aimed at collecting taxes that were overdue and the names of recalcitrant businesses were published in the media to settle their debts.
The task force was to ensure compliance with companies and individuals who have refused to pay their outstanding taxes.
“The operation was necessary because revenue performance was low and it was prudent to use all legitimate measures to shore it up,†he said.
Source:Â citibusinessnews.com