Ghana can tax itself to meet development needs – Oxfam

Ghana has the potential to generate sufficient tax revenue domestically, through stronger compliance mechanisms and public education on tax obligations, to meet its development needs without excessive borrowing, says Oxfam Ghana.

That required the government to give value for the taxes paid by individuals and businesses, curbing illicit financial flows, strengthening enforcement, and continued public education.

Dr Isaac Nwankwo, Research Consultant for the Oxfam Fair Tax Monitor Project, said this at the Fair Tax Monitor Report Workshop in Accra, calling for mechanisms to make tax affordable and easily paid.

Drawing attention on the need for self-reliance, he said: “At the end of the day, let’s look at one thing: the country Ghana is our country. If everything fails and everybody decides not to give us money, we have to find money here in Ghana to pay ourselves.”

“The country’s tax revenue potential is massive. If we are able to put our house in order, obviously, we should be able to tax ourselves to take care of our needs,” the Tax Consultant said.

He said achieving that required creating an environment for all potential taxpayers to pay the appropriate taxes without challenges.

He expressed concern over revenue losses through illicit financial flows and international tax arrangements, noting that those leakages often forced the government to borrow money to provide essential services while discouraging honest taxpayers.

Dr Nwankwo called for continued empowerment of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) with necessary resources, clear targets and sustained taxpayer education as ways of addressing the challenge, expanding the tax base and ensuring compliance.

“In 2024, GRA made some significant growth in tax revenue. Let’s continue to make sure that we empower the revenue authority to do their work effectively,” he said, adding that educating taxpayers and potential taxpayers to know their obligations would also boost revenue collection.

The Tax Consultant explained that certain international arrangements regarding money transfers led to financial losses to the State, calling on the Government to replicate recent efforts in the gold sector to address such revenue losses in other critical sectors of the economy.

He commended the government for the establishment of the Gold Board, describing it as a positive step towards improving tax compliance in the mining sector, particularly addressing gold smuggling that continued to cause significant revenue losses.

“The Gold Board is better than allowing the system to be the way it is where everybody decides to do what they like to do, whether it is lawful or non-lawful. At least when money comes into the system, we can officially have it in our records,” he said.

Source: GNA

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