MEDIA BRIEFING BY COMMISSIONER-GENERAL, MR. GEORGE BLANKSON ON MONDAY 25TH JULY 2011
Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen of the media. We have invited you this morning to this briefing session, the second in the year, to apprise you of some pertinent issues relating to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) operations:
These are:
(i) Revenue performance for the first half of 2011;
(ii) Current status and challenges of the integration and modernization process;
(iii) The way forward for the GRA for the second half of 2011
(iv) Other matters of interest to the public
Revenue Performance
In the budget statement of 2011 presented by the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, the GRA was given an overall collection target of GH¢7,208.97million excluding upstream petroleum revenue. However, in May, the Ministry revised the revenue target upwards by 4.7% bringing the total revenue target for 2011 to GH¢7,544.64million. At the end of June 2011, the GRA had collected GH¢3,929.05million compared with the half year revenue target of GH¢3,506.13, exceeding the target by GH¢422.92million or 12.1%.
The breakdown of collection is as follows:
- Domestic Taxes (Direct Tax) - GH¢1,622.33million (Excess- GH¢150.17million or 10.2%)
- Domestic Taxes (Indirect Taxes) - GH¢672.79million (Excess- GH¢48.2million or 7.7%)
- Customs (including petroleum) - GH¢1,633.93million (Excess- GH¢224.56 or 15.9%)
The total collection does not include revenue from upstream petroleum.
Integration & Modernization
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, the integration and modernization of the GRA which started with the passage of the GRA Act (2009), Act 791, is on course. The process of forging the erstwhile Revenue Agencies and the Revenue Agencies Governing Board (RAGB) into one entity is on course. The divisions of the GRA as defined in the GRA Act have been established. The departments under the divisions have been set up and Deputy Commissioners approved for each department.
The support service units (e.g. finance, administration, research and monitoring, IT etc.) of the erstwhile CEPS, IRS and VATS have been merged into a division under a Commissioner, leaving the operational arms of the erstwhile CEPS, now the Customs Division and the operational arms of the erstwhile IRS and the VATS now combined as the Domestic Tax Revenue Division to function as focused and efficient operational divisions.
Status of Legal Framework
An important aspect of the reform involves pooling together into a Tax Administration Act all the administrative provisions in the Customs, VAT and Income Tax laws and recrafting the residual provisions into separate charging Acts for income tax, VAT and Customs. In this regards
- A separate VAT bill has been crafted, gazetted and presented to Parliament.
- Work is ongoing on new VAT regulations.
- Work on the final draft of the Tax Administration Act (TAA) is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
- Work on the Internal Revenue Act has commenced.
- Terms of Reference (TOR) have been developed for the Customs Law and are currently under discussion.
Integration of DTRD Offices
A key element in the reform process is the integration of the Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD) offices comprising the erstwhile Value Added Tax Service (VATS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to enhance taxpayer convenience and also enable the staff discharge their duties under the DTRD more effectively. This involves merging offices by co-locating staff of these erstwhile Revenue Agencies, movement of files of taxpayers, training of staff to perform on their new schedules, etc.
For a start, the GRA has identified nine (9) offices within the Accra-Tema metropolis to serve as PILOT SITES for integration of DTRD offices. Subsequently, other integrated offices will be rolled out in the Greater Accra Region and countrywide.
Effective the last quarter of 2011, the first Pilot Office which is located on the Spintex Road will open and commence business. It is envisaged that by the end of 2011 pilot offices would have been established at Adabraka, Agbogbloshie, Makola, Tema, Ashaiman, Legon, Achimota and Kaneshie. The Large Taxpayer Unit Office currently located at Osu will also be relocated to the VAT House, Adabraka on the Ring Road near Busy Internet.
The integrated offices will serve all domestic taxpayers, that is, both VAT (Indirect) and Income Tax (Direct Taxpayers) and spare taxpayers the inconvenience of dealing with separate offices for income tax and VAT.
The new computerized system for administering domestic tax, the Total Revenue Integrated Processing System (TRIPS), will be rolled out in the pilot offices. The roll out will begin with the registration module in September 2011. The core tax administration modules (front-end services like filing returns and collections) in December 2011 and modules for back-end Services such as Audit report processing and Debt management in March 2012.) The TRIPS is an integrated revenue information system which will provide a platform for the administration of all domestic taxes under the e-Gov project. The public will be sensitized to ensure that the pilot will be a success.
Criteria for Segmentation
The integration of the DTRD offices will be done on the basis of segmented taxpayers. The criteria for segmenting taxpayers are the following:
Large Taxpayers
Primary Criterion - Taxpayers with annual turnover of five million Ghana Cedis (GH¢5million) and above.
Secondary Criterion - Specialist industries no matter the turnover:
- Upstream and midstream petroleum companies
- Banking Institutions
- Insurance companies
- Mining companies except quarries
- Members of Groups of companies, no matter their turnover, where the group has at least one associate qualifying as a Large Taxpayer
Medium Taxpayers
Taxpayers with annual turnover above ninety thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢ 90,000), but below five million Ghana cedis (GH¢5million).
Small Taxpayers
Taxpayers with annual turnover of ninety thousand Ghana cedis (GH¢ 90,000) and below.
E-Gov Project
As part of the reform of revenue administration, the GRA will be linked with the Registrar-General’s Department (RGD) electronically under the e-gov Project to ensure that the GRA has access to the database of the RGD to access the details of registered businesses for easy tracking for tax purposes. In connection with this, new Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) will be issued to registered businesses and individuals.
Project Management Approach
The Project Management Approach has been adopted as the vehicle for the integration process consequently, sixteen (16) project teams have been set up to come out with various activities to be implemented over a three year period for effective integration and modernsation of the GRA. The output of the project teams which will detail the measurable activities and their associated time lines and costs will constitute the blue print for the modernization. They have almost completed their work.
GRA Branding
A branding exercise is currently underway to replace the signage, bill boards and identification labels on all buildings of the erstwhile agencies with that of the GRA. The branding of GRA vehicles has been completed. The websites of the former agencies have been replaced by the GRA website www.gra.gov.gh which is up and running.
Challenges
Undertaking reforms in revenue administration and improving revenue mobilization simultaneously is quite a challenge. A careful balance is needed so that one does not take precedence over the other.
A key challenge in the integration process derives from change management issues affecting staff. The fusion of different organizational cultures, staff attitude and staff expectations from the reform process are being handled through continuous sensitization of staff to ensure their understanding of the new changes.
In order to build a credible organization, one major challenge to management is the issue of integrity of staff. With the active involvement of staff, a draft code of ethics has been developed to guide the conduct of staff in their dealings with taxpayers. Finishing touches are being put to the document for adoption and implementation.
The continuous use of the names of the erstwhile revenue agencies instead of that of the GRA by the media is also a major challenge to management. The media are our partners in the reform process. It is therefore important that you present the GRA correctly to the public.
Secondary Criterion - Specialist industries no matter the turnover:
- Upstream and midstream petroleum companies
- Banking Institutions
- Insurance companies
- Mining companies except quarries
- Members of Groups of companies, no matter their turnover, where the group has at least one associate qualifying as a Large Taxpayer
The Way Forward
Despite the challenges, management is seriously committed to ensuring that in the second half of this year and the years beyond, mobilization of revenue achieves greater efficiency, productivity and effectiveness. At the same time, management is also committed to moving the integration and modernization process forward. Towards this end, management will give special attention to the following areas of revenue mobilization in the second half of the year.
- Self Employed Income Tax
- The Warehousing Regime
- The Transit Regime
- The Temporary Importation of Vehicles
- Audit of Large Taxpayers
- Debt Management
- The National Fiscal Stabilization Levy
In addition management will ensure the following:
- Sustained Tax Education for all Taxpayers
- Quick Examination of Submitted Returns
- Effective implementation of Enforcement and Compliance Measures
- Effective monitoring of Permits
- Effective tracking and interception of smuggled goods. In this regard a Rapid Deployment Force has been put together and is currently undergoing training
It is the expectation of management that through effective and efficient supervision by managers, and with the co-operation of the media, the GRA will exceed the revenue target for 2011.
Thank you for coming and may God bless us all.
