The Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry says it would collaborate with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to improve tax revenue in 2019. 

President of the Chamber, Dr Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso 1, said the Chamber will be proffering advice on best ways to widen the tax net.

“There are so many ways that government gets its revenue to capital projects. For us, we want to find the best way to widen the tax net so the government will get enough funding to support its capital expenditure. Deepening collaboration with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is much needed,” he told JoyBusiness in an interview.

The GRA in 2018 had a total tax revenue target of GH¢39 billion Ghana which was over 2 billion Cedis short of its targets. 

Revenue Generation and the GRA

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has expressed satisfaction in its strategic partner, McKinsey & Co., an international consulting firm contracted to offer its expertise to help boost revenue generation.

Emmanuel Kofi Nti, the Commissioner-General of the Authority in an interview with JoyBusiness said the work done by the consultant so far paints a bright picture for 2019 revenue.

“The last quarter of the year we did well because they were offering good advice and helping us with the kind of work that we were doing; especially for the Customs area, the collections up to the end of the quarter weren’t that good,” the commissioner stated.

Speaking at sidelines of the Thanksgiving service of GCNet last Friday he said, “We have the belief that ending 2019, things should be far better than we experienced in 2018.”

2019 revenue target

According to the 2019 annual expenditure estimates for the GRA, the total tax revenue projected for the year in review is ¢45 billion as against the 2018 revised budget of ¢38 billion.

By the end of the year, the Authority projects to have registered and issued Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) to three million taxpayers to aid in mobilizing the monies.

Meanwhile, Dr Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso 1has shared with JoyBusiness the Chambers priorities for 2019 which includes the establishment of an SME clinic. This clinic will provide prompt business advisory services towards the day-to-day business management of member firms.

McKinsey’s role

McKinsey’s role is to support the GRA in achieving its target in terms of the revenue.

The GRA from January 1 to August 31 last year collected ¢22.6 billion out of a targeted ¢24.46 billion, recording a deviation of ¢1.80 billion. It was against this backdrop that it saw the need for hiring the services of the consulting firm.

Mckinsey & Co. was contracted to train and build the skills of GRA staff and help develop a mindset of constant improvement through sourcing for ideas to change and improve the Authority.

McKinsey’s engagement was also to help change GRA’s systems to be comparable to the best in revenue administration in the world through simplified processes and innovation.

The GRA’s Commissioner-General has debunked assertions that the consulting firm has come to stay and to cause a drain on the public purse.

He has, however, assured that the group would exit the country as and when revenue take tactics see a major boost.