Integration of Tax Administration to Curb Import and Domestic Tax Evasions in Ghana

Authors

  • John Adu Kwame
  • Eric Tutu Tchao Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
  • Kwasi Poku Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18533/ijbsr.v3i11.315

Keywords:

Tax Administration Reforms, Tax evasion, Value Added Tax, Revenue Collection Agency (RCA), Ghana Revenue Authority.

Abstract

As part of the Government of Ghana’s plans to maximize tax mobilization, it recently integrated its Regional Collection Agencies (RCA) namely; the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Customs Excise and Preventive service (CEPS) and the Value Added Tax (VAT) Services into the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). This research aims to find out whether Ghana’s tax administration reform of integrating the RCA into GRA has dealt with the inefficiencies in tax administration with respect to personal income tax, company tax, value added tax (VAT), import duties and self employed tax collection. To that end, questionnaires, interviews, observation and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning’s (MoFEP) data on tax revenues were analyzed to establish whether there has been some level of efficiency in the mobilization of these taxes. From the field observation, it was discovered that many taxpayers in Ghana are not being issued receipts which could ensure proper accounting. Surprisingly, tax collectors from the RCAs were aware of this but refuse to act. Even though most of the taxes were not being collected, analysis of data from MoFEP showed an increase in revenue collection in the last four years and this has been attributed to the tax administration integration. The effect of tax evasion on the Ghanaian economy has also been thoroughly discussed

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Published

2013-12-09

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 11 (2013): November

Section

Article

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