GRA bags GH¢113 billion in 2023, highest collection in 20 years

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) collected a tax revenue of GH¢113.06 billion last year, GH¢3.87 billion more than it was tasked to collect.

The performance represents a nominal growth rate of 49.3% over the 2022 fiscal year, which the GRA described as the highest ever in the last 20 years.

For the 2023 fiscal year, the authority was tasked with collecting GHC106 billion in tax revenue, representing a 40 per cent growth over the GH¢75.71 billion collected for 2022. The revenue target was later revised to GHC109.19 billion.

Recorded growth
In an interview, the Commissioner-General of GRA, Rev Dr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, said, “I am happy to announce that we recorded a year-on-year growth of 49.3 per cent, the highest ever recorded in the last 20 years and the highest tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of 14.1% in the last six years.

He said the authority’s target was revised in the 2023 mid-year budget to GHC109.19 billion which was an upward adjustment of GH¢3.20 billion or 3%.

Rev. Dr Owusu-Amoah said domestic tax revenue grew by 54% and contributed 73% of the total revenue raised in the year, whereas tax revenue from international trade, also referred to as customs duties, grew by 38.2% and contributed 27% to total tax revenue.

In 2023, tax revenue growth, the commissioner general said, more than doubled within two years, a feat that occurred only in 2011 and 2012, when the country started the production of crude oil in commercial quantities.

The authority has also recorded the highest ever tax buoyancy, the efficiency and responsiveness of tax revenue mobilisation to growth in the economy, of 1.5 in 2021 and also in 2023.

Reasons for performance
Rev. Dr Owusu-Amoah attributed the authority’s performance to the intensified compliance exercises carried out during the year to recover overdue liabilities as well as provisional assessments for 2023.

He also mentioned the high payment of Corporate Income Tax (CIT), especially from the banks.

In 2023, the banks paid GHC3.95 billion corporate income tax (CIT) compared to the GH¢2.55 billion paid in 2022, he said, adding “these payments indicated a growth rate of 54.8% or GHC1.4 billion.”

Dr Owusu-Amoah also cited the performance of major mining firms, which were traditionally the highest contributors to CIT.

In 2023, the contribution of the mining companies grew by 39.6 per cent from GH₵4.42 billion in 2022 to GHC6.14 billion.

The relatively good price of gold saw an increase of 15.8% over the price in 2022, especially in the last quarter of the year, which contributed to the performance of the mining companies.

Also, Rev Dr Owusu-Amoah said, an increase in revenue from one per cent withholding tax at the ports and the intensified field work in the collection of tax stamps from microbusinesses, especially artisans and Vehicle Income Tax (VIT) payments, which resumed full scale during the year after its suspension as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, contributed to the authority’s achievement.

Additionally, the effective classification and valuation of goods and improvements in monitoring of leakages such as undervaluation and misdescription of goods by the Customs Division contributed to an enhancement in revenue performance.

The Commissioner-General said domestic Value Added Tax (VAT) registered year-on-year growth of 61.9 per cent although it fell short of its target by 9.9%.

The growth, he explained, also resulted from intensive compliance and invigilation exercises carried out during the year.

The passage of the upfront VAT payment Act in May last year also enhanced the performance by roping in GHC173.89 million.

Rev Dr Owusu-Amoah again attributed the performance to an improvement in the import VAT performance during the year, which exceeded its 3.5 per cent, recording a growth of 53.3%.

“E-Levy also registered year-on-year growth of 85.7%.

The tax type saw an increase in transaction levels compared to the previous year.

There was an increase in the level of transactions with a bump in revenue in December 2023 due to the increase in person-to-person transfers,” he said.

Appreciation
The Commissioner-General expressed appreciation to the dedicated and hardworking staff of the authority, taxpayers and stakeholders for contributing to the success story of the significant strides in growing tax revenue.

This year, the GRA has been tasked with mobilise GHC146 billion and the commissioner general is optimistic that the authority will exceed its target through the dedication of its staff and the collaboration of taxpayers.

Rev Dr Owusu-Amoah appealed to all eligible individuals and businesses that earn income to contribute their fair share towards the socio-economic development of the country.