Ghana Revenue Authority exceeds 2010 target

Story: Charles Benoni Okine & Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
THE Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) managed to bag GH¢5.94 billion as of the close of December last year, marginally exceeding its annual target of GH¢5.92bn by 0.5 per cent.
The figure posted by the GRA, an integrated body of all the three revenue collecting agencies in the country, namely, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Value Added Tax (VAT) Service, also represents a 23.6 per cent increase over the previous year’s figure.
The Commissioner General of the GRA, Mr George Blankson, announced this at a news conference in Accra yesterday at which he also took steps to outline a number of initiatives to ensure that the authority met its target of GH¢7.5 billion by the close of the year.
He said revenue collection from the customs side of the account fell below its annual target but it was explained that the shortfall was due to, among others things, the reduction in some petroleum taxes during the year.
For the breakdown, Mr Blankson said domestic taxes (direct tax), formerly IRS, bagged GH¢2,441.33 million, while domestic tax (indirect tax), then VAT, collected GH¢1,061.22 million.
He said Customs (including petroleum) collected GH¢2,442.15 million, representing a shortfall of approximately nine per cent.
“In spite of the shortfall from the Customs side, we managed to exceed our target and we are working hard through the measures we have to ensure that we exceed our target this year,” Mr Blankson gave the assurance.
On the other challenges that hit the GRA as a body last year, he said, “The task of pressing ahead with the reform, while keeping up with revenue collection, is like juggling two balls in the air.”
He said the authority also had to grapple with the various training sessions and workshops for staff of the integrated authority to keep them abreast of the processes.
On the way forward, he said the management of the authority was committed to ensuring that the two prongs of tax reform and revenue enhancement were kept in perfect balance and proceeded in tandem.
Mr Blankson said this year and beyond the performance of the managers would be measured on both scores.
“On agency-based institutional loyalties, it is heart-warming to note that labour leaders have already taken the first steps in unifying the labour front and merging staff associations,” he said.
The move, he explained, was to ensure industrial harmony which was key to ensuring that the work ahead of the authority was executed without any hitches.
He said the reform process aimed at putting revenue collection on a higher growth path in the long term would be supported by the short and medium-term measures put in place by the authority.
As a result, Mr Blankson said, the authority would intensify arrears collection, a responsibility that would fall under the ambit of the Debt Management team of the authority.
He said the GRA would also intensify tax audit, while ensuring the proper and effective management of information at the district office of the authority.