Govt expects to reduce dependency on donors by 2012

Accra, June 16, GNA - Government is expected to reduce its dependency on donor support considerably by 2012, with the establishment of Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), mandated to oversee all revenue agencies and to formulate policies for income mobilisation.

Mr Fiifi Kwettey, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, who made the observation, said: "It has become increasingly clear that until we (Ghana) are able to stand on our feet as a nation and mobilise enough domestic resources to pursue our development agenda, we would continue to be at the mercy of other nations."

Launching the GRA logo in Accra on Wednesday, he asked the authority to ensure that people eligible to charge Value Added Tax (VAT) comply with the appropriate rate while importers pay the required taxes to government. He said the GRA should be innovative and implement new ideas to effectively expand the tax net to reduce the tax burden on those in the informal sector.

Mr Kwettey, appealed to the authority to emulate African countries like Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa, which had recorded significant increase in tax revenue due to the integration of revenue agencies.

"With the establishment of GRA, government and Ghanaians expect a substantial increase in tax revenue and enhanced service to taxpayers," he said.

He pointed out that the merger of the revenue institutions would help stop duplication of efforts and resources, reduce cost of doing business and bring down the cost involved in ensuring compliance by tax defaulters. Mr Kwettey said the design and adoption of a logo clearly indicated the readiness of GRA to boldly steer its affairs and provide quality leadership. "A logo helps to create one of the quickest possible routes to business success by contributing to the business viability and credibility," he added.

Mr George Blankson, Commissioner General of GRA, said management was working assiduously to fully make itself established. "Work is far advanced towards redeployment of the GCNet (Ghana Community Network Services Limited) Valuation module to stem the myriad of problems in the valuation process.

"The detailed roll out plan has been planned in partnership with GCNet," he said.

GCNet operates an electronic system for processing trade and customs documents in Ghana.

Mr Blankson said infrastructure of GRA, its assets and estates are being assessed by a team of estate officers and auditors while a sensitisation workshop would be organised for staff. "The focus is to establish an authority that places a high premium on service delivery to all categories of stakeholders," he added. The three agencies integrated into the GRA are Internal Revenue Service, Customs Excise and Preventive Service and VAT Service. The logo has golden eagles representing a strong and visionary leadership determined to optimise tax revenue while keeping watchful eyes on non-compliant taxpayers.

It has cowries representing national revenue while the measuring scale defines the collective resolve to be fair, equitable and firm in the delivery of service to clients. The logo has blue colour at the background to connote the limitless effort to revenue mobilisation by GRA while the yellow background represents wealth of the nation from revenue mobilisation. It has a green banner representing a sense of renewal, self control and harmony in GRA. The logo has the motto: "Integrity, Fairness and Service". 16 June 10