The government must start charging property tax based on the value of the land instead of the property itself, the chief executive officer of the Public Service Housing Loans Scheme board, Dr Richard Yeboah Asante has said.
Asante believes the current state of evaluating and charging properties is fraught with challenges making it difficult for assemblies to mobilise revenue from property tax.
A study conducted by Residential Occupancy and Property Tax Arrears has revealed that only 20% of property owners in Accra pay property tax regularly.
The remaining 80% either do not pay at all or do not pay on time. Out of the 80% who renege on their annual payments, 30% of these owners owe the government a decade’s worth of taxes.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Friday (9 February), Asante said the focus must now be on the value of the land.
“We are moving away from letting people pay property tax on the building that sits on the land but collect the tax based on the value of the land.
“The point is that you can have land in Cantonments which will cost about US$400,000 and the property sitting on it will be about GHC200,000, what will you make of it, so the focus should be on the land.”
“That is the challenge for the assemblies, they are struggling because you have to enter someone’s room to be able to value the property and how many Ghanaians will allow you to enter their room to do that,” Asante said.
Listen to Dr Richard Yeboah Asante in the attached audio clip below:
Reporting by Fred Dzakpata in Accra
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