Tax expert Abdallah Ali-Nakyea has asked the Ghana Revenue Authority, GRA to take steps in identifying online businesses and make them tax compliance.
According to him, majority of businesses are online now and the country can make a great fortune in term of revenue if these businesses are made to pay tax.
GRA has also hinted of plans to make online businesses tax compliance.
Speaking at the forum organised by the Insitute of Chartered Accountant Ghana, Abdallah Ali-Nakyea said the e-commerce sector has expanded and the country needs to take advantage of that for resource mobilisation.
"...is where every business is heading towards, everything is being done online so it wider and bigger than the e-commerce we use to know so it high time the revenue collectors try to look at that sector and you know it's not only about taxation but they can also assist them in whatever help they need to keep records then they can also comply with the tax laws, it will have a significant impact because if you look at the volume of digital economy that trades today and when you look at what it can translate into in terms of tax revenue for direct and indirect tax then it can boost domestic resource mobilisation and also towards our movement for Ghana Beyond Aid."
Only 20% of property owners in Accra pay tax
Only two out of 10 properties owners, whether owner-occupied, tenant-occupied and tenant-owner occupied, in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) pay their property tax, a new study titled Residential Occupancy and Property Tax Arrears in Accra, has revealed.
This translates into just 20% of regular payments by property owners, while the other 80% either do not pay at all or do not pay on-time.
Out of the 80% who renege on their annual payments, 30% t have been in arrears for over a decade.
At a policy workshop to introduce and discuss findings from the research with the AMA in Accra, the researchers noted that the AMA has the potential to generate substantial revenue from property rate tax if it implements the research findings effectively.
The findings of the research include targeted reforms for specific population groups to sustain and improve long-term compliance, stricter enforcement policies and payment-friendly interventions, equitable distribution of amenities, uniformity and fairness in property rate changes, and tax rate increments should be aligned to GDP growth rather than plugging shortfalls.
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