The Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Ms. Julie Essiam says the dedication and commitment of the staff of the authority contributed to meeting the mid-year target.
She also added that GRA not only met its mid-year target but also achieved its VAT digital enrollment goal of 600 businesses, despite the limited time and challenging demands imposed by the IMF conditions.
The Commissioner-General of Ghana Revenue Authority MS. Julie Essiam has announced the remarkable performance of the board, management, and Staff to exceed revenue targets before the end of 2024.
Ms Essiam in her briefing said for the 2024 fiscal year, the GRA was tasked to collect GHC145,992.38 Billion Cedis, representing a 29.1% growth over the GHC 113,066.43 Billion Cedis, that was collected in the 2023 fiscal year.
With the commitment of the outstanding staff of this Authority, I am happy to announce that, as at June this year, the GRA had collected a total of GHC 68,049.33 billion Cedis, against a half year budget of GHC 67,910.65 billion Cedis, and exceeding the cumulative mid-year target by GHC 138.69 million Cedis, which represents 0.2% increase; therefore exceeding midyear budget by 0.2%.
This achievement represents a nominal growth of 37.6% over the same
period last year.
Specifically, for the month of June, the devoted staff of GRA outperformed and exceeded the revenue target by an exceptional 21.2% – a significant increase in a single month!
Ladies and Gentlemen, all of this was achieved against the headwinds of a very difficult first quarter, and this, ladies and gentlemen, is a testament to the commitment, resilience, and overall dedication of the staff of GRA.
To breakdown the details of the performance to-date:
The month of January, we fell below target by (12.3%)
February also showed a shortfall of (6.3%)
March suffered a similar trend with an increased negative deviation of
(12.7%)
We started to rebound from April and exceeded target by 1.9% that month, then exceeded again in May by 1.4%; and subsequently a significant achievement of a positive increase of 21.2% in June.
As we can see, the outstanding performance in June supported the turn-around to help with a positive half-year performance of 0.2% of the total half-year target.
Ladies and gentlemen, as a new Top management team, we came on board in April of this year, very much aware of the impact of an election year and acknowledged the headwinds that trends such a period.
And as such, already trailing from a negative first quarter, the leadership team discerned and agreed a very focused 90-day plan to ensure we were strategically focused, and deliberate in turning the tide of a negative first Quarter.
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO IMPROVED REVENUE PERFORMANCE:
Specifically, we focused on the following:
1. Actualizing specific key revenue measures.
2. Staff Welfare
3. Changing the Face of GRA, by moving from an enforcement approach to a more collaborative approach
4. Stakeholder engagement by focusing on our taxpayers as partners.
A key component of our 90-day plan on Revenue was the rollout of our flagship Electronic VAT Invoicing System, which was successfully transitioned into the first phase registration of our top 600 taxpayers accounting for 80% of VAT contributions.
We are happy to report that we exceeded our target 600 and onboarded 614 taxpayers as at the June 30th deadline.
This initiative is a very important revenue enabler, as it will potentially ensure that we are able to gather real-time data on taxpayers, in particular retailers, for the first time in GRA’s history.
This strong momentum will keep us on track to migrate about 4000 additional taxpayers on the VAT invoicing platform. The expected results are a streamlined and transparent VAT regime, with a subsequent increase in Revenue.
Equally important, we have initiated our Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme – which was successfully rolled out, and has ensured that resident individuals and entities that earn incomes in Ghana, voluntarily disclose any previously undisclosed financial accounts or incomes held abroad. This measure is in accordance to the Income Tax Act 2015 (Act 896), as amended.
We are proud to confirm that Ghana is one of the only five African countries, amongst several countries, that has been approved by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the (OECD), to share and receive information on resident persons with incomes abroad, across over 70 countries. This innovative programme will bolster our efforts to rope in more eligible taxpayers into the tax net.
Thirdly, under revenue, we have put in place rigorous compliance and enforcement measures to streamline domestic tax and Customs
administration to widen the tax net, by, amongst others:
a. Registration of eligible taxpayers under the Upfront Payment of
VAT Initiative –
Under this regime we have been able to rope in previously unregistered taxpayers.
Again, I am happy to report that as at June 30th 2024, we had registered 176,524 taxpayers as against a target of 144,000 taxpayers.
The Upfront VAT initiative was introduced in June 2023 to ensure that businesses who import taxable goods in commercial
quantities are registered for VAT.
This has yielded very good results and helped streamline VAT administration.
Secondly, our strategic plan has also enabled key deliverables aimed at transitioning GRA from an enforcement-centered approach to a
collaborative partner approach.
In August, we will conduct training programmes in Customer Experience approaches, and Ethical behaviors – all aimed to improve relationships with our taxpayers.
We believe that when we constantly engage taxpayers on issues that bother them, especially regarding rights and obligations; tax processes; tax audits; and objections and tax reliefs, we will win their trust and confidence.
Along the same lines, we have designated the month of August as a Tax Education month, and will be embarking on Tax dialogues, radio & TV discussions, market outreaches and collaborating with religious and faith based organizations.
Once again Ladies and Gentlemen, we are ecstatic to announce our historic partnership with the Methodist Church of Ghana – a partnership that leverages biblical teachings to raise awareness of the Civic responsibility and obligation of citizens in paying taxes. The Methodist church is achieving this by incorporating the teachings into the Ministry’s “Weekly Bible Lessons” handbook.
The GRA intends to leverage this remarkable framework across faith organizations. With this, we are planning an engagement with the Ghana Muslim Council, with an initial visit to the National Chief Imam.
Friends of the media, we ask that you support us by amplifying our messages and allowing us time in your studios to share information.
Now, let me pause, to recognize a key individual, and express our deepest gratitude and thanks to the Honorable Minister for Finance, the Honorable Dr. Mohamed Amin Adam, MP Karaga.
The Honorable Minister, from the onset, when this new management team was announced, has been a pillar of strength. He traveled near and far with us to meet staff, encourage them, and strategize with us!
You would have seen the Minister trending on social media so many times with GRA – you couldn’t have missed the famous picture of the Minister with GRA staff at the Aflao Boarder, with a Solidarity Fist chanting the Customs Division Solidarity slogan – Ahoya!
Honorable Minister, we remain grateful to you!
And my goodness…. Our Board Chairman, the Honorable Joe Ghartey, MP for Essikado-Ketan, Who, together with the full Board, inaugurated just last May, seem like he has been with us for years! Honorable Ghartey’s deep sense of responsibility, and purpose driven mindset, has strived us on in the last couple of months to go beyond unexpected heights!
We are equally grateful to the full BOARD for their contributions in getting us to this point, and look forward to our ongoing partnership!
NEXT STEPS
Now Ladies and Gentlemen, as we poise for delivering the next six months – the second half of 2024, we will build on our achievements and drive further enhancements in our operations, while prioritizing the welfare of our staff; and also ensuring that taxpayers operate within a transparent tax regime that ultimately serves the nation’s best interest.
We will continue to focus on our transformation initiatives to optimize our platform for effective revenue mobilization.
We are fully committed to attaining our goal of achieving the 2024 fiscal year budget of GHC 146 Billion Cedis, and ultimately, a Tax to GDP ratio of 20% by end of 2027; and will like to emphasize that, the journey ahead holds promise!
Some of the priority areas for tax reform are administrative and legal reforms geared to significantly enhance revenue mobilization. These reforms are to broaden the tax base, minimize tax avoidance, and ensure a progressive tax system.
On both the Customs and Domestic tax front, we will continue to pursue the agreed
tax measures announced in the 2024 fiscal year budget.
CONCLUSION
I will like to conclude by thanking our valued taxpayers, who have made our success story possible with your co-operation and compliance.
As an institution, we have had to take a hard look at ourselves so we can focus on making the necessary effort to improve our service delivery.
So, as taxpayers please rest assured that the Top Management and the leadership team will continue to engage with both our internal and external stakeholders, so we can collectively ensure that, we mobilize the required resources for our economic development.
Our most valuable stakeholders, our staff, employees of GRA, we cannot end this briefing without once again thanking you for ther continued hard work, commitment, and dedication to our dear nation, Ghana.
