GRA bags GHC113 billion in 2023, highest collection in 20 years

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) collected tax revenue of GHC113.06 billion last year, GHC3.87 billion more than it was tasked to gather.

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

For the 2023 fiscal year, the authority was tasked with collecting GHC106 billion in tax revenue, representing a 40% growth over the GHC75.71 billion collected for 2022.  This revenue target was revised upwards to GHC109.19 billion.

Recorded growth

In an interview, the Commissioner General of the GRA, Reverend Dr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, said, “I am happy to announce that we recorded a year-on-year growth of 49.3%, the highest ever recorded in the past 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 Review to GHC109.19 billion, which included an upward adjustment of GHC3.2 billion or 3%.

Reverend 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 Ghana started producing crude oil in commercial quantities.

The GRA 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

Reverend 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 by the banks.

In 2023, the banks paid GHC3.95 billion CIT compared to the GHC2.55 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% from GHC4.42 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, Reverend Dr Owusu-Amoah said, an increase in revenue from 1% withholding tax at the ports and the intensified fieldwork 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%, although it fell short of its target by 9.9%.

This 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.

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

“E-Levy also registered year-on-year growth of 85.7%,” he said. “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 his appreciation to the dedicated and hard-working staff of the Authority, taxpayers and stakeholders for contributing to the success story and the significant strides in growing tax revenue.

This year, the GRA has been tasked with mobilising GHC146 billion and the Commissioner General expressed optimism that the Authority will exceed its target through the dedication of its staff and with the collaboration of taxpayers.

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

He gave his assurance that the GRA will continue with its efforts to expand the tax net with the various initiatives announced in the 2024 Budget Statement.