Ghana loses about 80% of Tax Revenue at the Kotoka International Airport alone through under invoicing and over-invoicing of imported goods, the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) has disclosed.
ISODEC undertook the research to practically test the country’s tax collection mechanisms at the various entry points manned by the customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA).
The Civil Society Group also said the test was also to enable them validate Ghana’s Commodity Transactional Data.
Dr Manteaw noted that an experiment conducted by ISODEC by importing and clearing some items (video cameras, microphone/speakers, and projectors) also revealed that the items were undervalued, costing the nation a total of 101, 781.20 dollars in unpaid taxes.
He called for greater coordination among the various divisions, departments and units of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in order to improve efficiency and information sharing.
“It will be necessary to consider the introduction of IT-mediated solution such as a kind of intranet that links up the various divisions, departments and units, and help them to monitor in real time the transactions that take place in a day,” he said.
Dr Manteaw recommended that the planned enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act or any future amendment of the fiscal responsibility provisions in the Public Financial Management Act contain severe sanctions for the violation of constitutional provisions in respect of tax waivers.
He called on Ghana to design, implement, monitor and evaluate a real-time model for tracking and eliminating trade mis-pricing in commodities.
