The Ghana Revenue Authority has reiterated its commitment to hitting its revenue target for this year.

Speaking on Joy FM's Super Morning Show, Assistant Commissioner at the large taxpayer office at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Dr Martin Yamborigya threw more light on how the Authority reached its revenue target for 2021 and how intends to hit the 2022 target.

"From the domestic tax side, we initiated a number of things like the cashless system," he noted. "The efforts of our own staff also accounted for the achievement of our target by making sure they do their best," he added.

He further noted that one approach the Authority adopted that was very instrumental in its 2021 achievement was the introduction of the penalties and interests waiver. According to him, the Authority was able to raise over ₵400 million from this approach.

He also emphasised that the authority is preparing to pilot an electronic-commerce, gaming, and bet taxes in April 2022.

Again, the Authority intends to raise more revenue by collaborating with the district assemblies and other stakeholders to collect property rates as well as rent income tax.

Touching on other concerns, he clarified that the revised benchmark values would not affect their revenue target for 2022. On the contrary, he believes it would rather lead to an increase in revenue because the duties that would be charged on imported items would increase.

“In the sense that the value based on which your duties would be paid, because of the reduction, would rather go up a little," he stressed.

In addition, Mr Yamboriga said the Authority will no longer resort to the "punishment approach" of collecting taxes which involved confiscating the goods of tax defaulters and later auctioning them at a lesser cost.

Instead, he said the Authority will adopt a more flexible approach which includes providing alternative modes of payment for tax defaulters to be able to clear their debts.