Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has announced its intention to pursue the accounts of Ghanaians residing abroad who are not fulfilling their tax obligations.
This decision comes following the examination of 70,000 accounts belonging to Ghanaians in 40 different countries.
Revealing this information, Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, the Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, shared these details during an episode of PM Express Business Edition with host George Wiafe.
“For the 40 countries in which we have completed work, the value of money in these accounts is pegged at $2.8 billion,” he stated.
“However, the Ghana Revenue Authority has been able to raise a tax liability of $1.6 billion.
This is an assessment, but that doesn’t mean that we have already collected the taxes on these accounts, the GRA boss added.
Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah emphasised that this initiative is the result of two months of work conducted by the GRA.
The Commissioner General further disclosed that his department anticipates receiving additional data in the first week of January 2024, potentially enhancing the anticipated revenue inflows.
Reasons and legal basis by GRA
The Commissioner-General of the GRA stated that the organisation is obtaining information through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Agreement.
This agreement involves both the automatic exchange of information among member countries and information exchange upon request.
He explained that 150 countries, including Ghana, have endorsed this agreement facilitated by the OECD. It enables member countries to share information either through requests or automatically. This agreement empowers Ghana to engage in the reciprocal sharing of information with other member countries.
“This means that Ghana can go to the UK and ask for information on Ghanaian residents in that country and the UK can also request that GRA share information on their residents in Ghana,” Dr. Owusu-Amoah pointed out.
The development, he added, will also help in checking money laundering.
“Ghana is one of the 5th countries in Africa that, in 2022, managed to satisfy all the conditions to be part of the OEDC agreement on sharing data for tax purposes on residents in their countries,” the GRA Boss revealed.
What will happen to residents in Ghana who don’t cooperate?
Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah added that individuals failing to meet their tax obligations would be granted a grace period to comply with the GRA. However, if they fail to do so within the stipulated time, the Authority will proceed to impose the necessary penalties.
In addition, the Commissioner General disclosed that the GRA is set to launch a Special Voluntary Disclosure Program (SVDP) tailored for foreign nationals and businesses operating in Ghana.
Under this program, foreign individuals and businesses in the country can voluntarily disclose any unreported or underreported information regarding their financial activities outside Ghana for tax purposes.
This initiative operates within the framework of the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) and the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters Act, 2018 (Act 967).
Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah clarified that the Voluntary Disclosure Programme encourages participants to voluntarily disclose any errors or omissions, with the potential for a reduction in the penalties that would typically be applied to such violations.
He also added that “All information provided under the Voluntary Disclosure Programme will be treated with utmost confidentiality, whilst stringent protocol measures have been put in place to protect the security and privacy of your data.