- The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia earlier said the government has developed a national common platform for property tax administration for the country.
- He said the common platform will operate across all the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies across the country.
The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, says that the government will start collecting property rates by end of April 2022.
The streamlining and relaunching of property tax collection is one measure to raise revenue within Ghana to revive the economy and also plug loopholes in the country’s taxation system.
Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday (24 March 2022) to lay out measures the government has introduced to mitigate the effects of hardship Ghanaians are feeling with the economic downturn, Ofori-Atta said, “We will begin the implementation and collection of the revised property rate by end of April 2022.”
He also said the government will deploy software to help simplify tax collection. “We’ll roll out the simplified tax filing mobile application for all eligible taxpayers by July 2022,” Ofori-Atta announced.
Other domestic revenue mobilisation measures
- Begin the implementation and collection of the revised property rate by the end of April 2022.
- Implement the E-VAT/E-Commerce/E-Gaming initiatives by the end of April 2022.
- Roll out the simplified tax filing mobile application for all eligible taxpayers by July 2022.
- Impress upon Parliament to fast-track passage of the E-Levy Bill, Tax Exemptions Bill and Fees and Charges Bill.
- Prioritise the Revenue Assurance, Compliance and Enforcement (RACE) programme to plug revenue leakages, especially at the ports, and the infamous fuel bunkering and small-scale mining exporters’ cabal.
- The government will partner with the private sector to introduce digital systems to monitor quarrying, sand winning and salt winning to get more revenue from Ghana’s natural resources.
- Immediately enforce the “No Duty – No Exit” policy at the MPS Terminal at Tema Port to improve revenue collection.
Digital platform for property tax
The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia earlier said the government has developed a national common platform for property tax administration for the country
He said the common platform will operate across all the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies across the country.
Dr Bawumia said it is unacceptable for property owners to evade taxes, adding that the lack of an effective property tax regime accounts for this evasion by owners of properties.
Speaking at a public lecture at Ashesi University, on the “Role of Digitalisation in Transforming the Economy,” Dr Bawumia indicated that a digital platform has been developed and will soon be launched, through which homeowners will receive tax bills, pay taxes as well as track their payment history.
Nicholas Brown
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