An economist and associate professor at the Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research (ISSER), Prof. Charles Ackah, has explained why Ghana must prioritize collecting property taxes.
He claims that Ghana can generate up to GH12 billion in property taxes each year.
He added that the GRA’s goal of approximately GH165 million is too modest.
“If you do the analysis and you decide to raise ¢165 million target in Accra alone, divide 165 million by the structures in Accra and each property is likely to pay just about 97 a year. This means that the target is quite low.
“According to my analysis, we could raise as much as ¢12 billion in property taxes alone. So, property tax holds a huge potential to boost the country’s tax revenues. Even if we focus on high-earned communities and the increasing luxury real estate, we can do more”, he said.
Prof. Ackah urged legislators to make sure that the predetermined revenue goals are met as much as feasible.
He added, “What we need to do is to mandate parliament to set revenue targets and apply punitive measures for failure to meet targets.”
Due to the nation’s low revenue levels, the lobbying for the collection of property taxes has become a hot topic.
Many people think that maximizing efforts to collect taxes will contribute to raising the ratio of taxes to GDP in the nation.