In its quest to mobilise more domestic revenue to meet its annual target, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has adopted measures to ensure that all eligible taxpayers do so.
However, various business groups and associations are questioning the approach being used by the revenue collection agency arguing that, much as they appreciate the intent of GRA to collect what is due the state, the approach is a disincentive and must be reviewed.
The Executive Secretary of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Ghana, Simon Madjie, has appealed to the GRA to adopt a business-friendly approach to revenue mobilisation to help protect the operations of businesses in the country.
“The chamber supports the government’s domestic revenue mobilisation efforts but would ask the Ghana Revenue Authority to adopt a more business-friendly approach to the implementation of government policies on revenue mobilisation.
“This is imperative in order not to scare away existing investors, as some of the actions can adversely impact their capitalisation.
Maintaining the ease of doing business is vital to the country’s economic recovery,” he said.
Mr Madjie, who made the call in his Facebook post, said his outfit was hopeful of a successful year although the chamber was not oblivious of the country’s current economic situation with a projected gross domestic product (GPD) growth rate of 2.9 per cent.
He said the chamber had charted such course before and was assertive that its members had the resilience to weather the storm.
Mr Madjie added that the pushback to the government’s GH¢137.3 billion debt restructuring programme by affected parties was causing some economic uncertainties.
However, AmCham remained confident that further dialogue would result in all issues being resolved amicably for the country to begin the process of recovery.
“The chamber has also noticed the reversal of the benchmark value on imports.
As much as we appreciate the effort, we want to urge the authorities to follow the principles of “transaction value” and the other procedures of valuation provided under the WTO’s Customs Valuation Agreement.
“We believe this will provide some predictability and help minimise the cost of importation.
“The chamber will continue with our efforts in advocating for a business-friendly environment,” he assured.
source: graphic.com
