The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has revealed that government will be introducing effective measures to collect more property taxes in the 2019 budget.
According to him, a revamping of the property tax collection system is needed to help government meet its revenue targets going forward.
Government missed its revenue target for the first five months of the year by 1.4 billion Ghana Cedis, raking in 17.3 billion Cedis against a target of 18.8 billion Cedis.
Responding to a question on the lack of measures in collecting property taxes in the 2018 mid-year budget review on Citi TV’s Point of View, Ken Ofori-Atta said more elaborate tax measures will be introduced in the 2019 budget to raise the needed revenue to aid in government’s transformational agenda.
“There are a lot of things we have to do with taxes, and I believe the November budget will have a very comprehensive view on taxes to just rationalize things and make sure that all outstanding tax issues are taken care of. If the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) for example collects about GHC 10 million a year then you know there is a problem. So it is important we do the collection and do it well.”
Ken Ofori-Atta stated that public compliance in tax collection is very important.
“A huge part of the next 6 months is going to be about issues of compliance and how we work with the GRA. We have things like VAT attack and all sought of things to get people to pay. So my challenge is to make it easier for people to file and pay in order to increase what GRA gets. Another important thing to consider is making the payment of taxes more digital.”
New tax measures
As part of measures to raise more revenue to meet its revenue target for the 2018 fiscal year, government has revealed that it will introduce a new tax known as the high net worth income tax.
In line with the new tax, the government will charge 35 percent on incomes that are over GHC 10,000.
Another prominent levy confirmed to be introduced by the government is a levy on luxury vehicle with engine capacities of 3.0 liters and above. The Finance Minister during the recent mid-year budget review presentation did not however confirm the percentage to be charged.
The levy according to the Finance Minister will be paid on first registration, and subsequently during annual renewal.
He added that Commercial vehicles are exempted from this policy.