GRA says it is confident SML contract will ensure revenue efficiency

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has assured that its risk-reward contract with the Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) will bring efficiency in the country’s revenue assurances and services.

“SML per the contract is required to provide resources for the execution of the contract. By implication, if there is no value addition, SML is not paid,” GRA said in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on December 20.

This comes after a report by The Fourth Estate and subsequently published by some media outlets, alleging a 10-year contract by Finance Minister to SML with an estimated over $100 million annually.

However, the Revenue Authority, in the statement said the contract was for five years, adding that “is performance-based and approved under Section 40 of the Public Procurement Act, Act 663, 2003.”

Section 40 of the Act provides guidelines for a procurement entity to engage in single-source procurement, which GRA said its Board and Management followed in procuring the services of SML.

“SML solely financed the capital expenditures and cutting-edge technology that is employed in the monitoring and auditing services provided to GRA in the Downstream Petroleum Sector,” the statement explained.

The statement also indicated that the five-year contract, which would make the company cover the Upstream and the Mining Sector to minimize the risk of revenue leakages, was based on SML’s performance in the downstream petroleum sector.

“The Consolidated Contract seeks to leverage the experience, technology, and know-how of SML Ghana Limited in the Downstream Petroleum Sector and the Minerals and Metals Sector to provide revenue assurance in the Upstream,” the statement noted.

GRA stated that the work of SML over the period had increased figures reported in the downstream petroleum sector, from an average of 350 million litres per month in 2018 and 2019, to 450 million litres per month from 2020/2021.

“This represents over a 33 per cent increase in volume reporting and an average of an extra 100 million litres per month at a levy rate of GH¢1.44p. The extra revenue variance gained for the two years will exceed GH¢3 billion,” GRA said.

The Revenue Authority also stated that: “This performance is attributable mainly to the introduction of ICUMS and SML systems.”

“GRA is confident that with the introduction of various initiatives, technology, and revenue assurance measures such as this, GRA will continue to see a significant increase in revenue such as the about 50 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue this year,” the statement noted.

The Authority said it would continue to explore more methods of blocking leakages and increasing compliance to enable us to attain a national Tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of over 18 per cent.

Source: GNA

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