Vice President, Mahamadu Bawumia has directed the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to as a matter of urgency develop a mobile app for citizens to use as a means of filing their tax returns.

According to him, this will enhance voluntary tax payment among Ghanaians as well as help reduce the cost of mobilizing funds.

Speaking at the launch of the Tax and Good Governance week in Accra, Dr Bawumia gave the Commissioner-General of the GRA the end of April next year to ensure that this directive is implemented.

“In fact, Commissioner-General, I’d like to challenge you that by the time we get to next year,… we want to see a mobile app which we can have on our phones and be able to file our taxes just on our mobile phones and pay them on our mobile apps without having to step into any office,” he said.

“This is a challenge I'm setting for you to meet by the end of April next year so that we can get this done; I know you can meet it.”

The Vice President was accompanied by the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta, Senior Minister Yaw Osarfo Marfo and other cabinet ministers who also used the opportunity to file their tax returns for the first quarter of the year.

Dr Bawumia reiterated the call by the President for all Ministers and government appointees to file their tax returns before the end of April this year.

Commissioner of the GRA, Emmanuel Kofi Nti said one of the key means of ensuring voluntary compliance is to have a well-informed taxpayer population hence the need for the campaign. 

“As an authority, we cannot continue to always run after taxpayers using coercion to ensure compliance. In line with best practices in the developed world, we expect taxpayers to voluntarily honour their tax obligations without any compulsion” he said.

He is optimistic that the GRA will record an impressive increase in the number of taxpayers filing their returns, voluntarily complying and ultimately maximizing revenue for national development.

The Tax and Good Governance campaign is a week-long programme expected to roll out in all the ten regions of the country.