Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has urged the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to use the link between the Ghana Card and the Tax Identification Number (TIN) to properly identify and collect taxes from individuals and businesses.
He called the GRA’s current policy of focusing primarily on existing taxpayers “lazy,” emphasising that a more successful strategy would be to target people who are not yet tax-compliant.
The Vice President stated at the 57th Congregation at KNUST on Friday, “By linking the Ghana Card number and the TIN number, GRA can tell who has filed and who has not filed their tax, and so it is rich data that is available to GRA, and I am asking GRA to use that data,” Bawumia stated.
“It’s a very lazy approach to keep looking for taxes from people who are already paying taxes when you could look at those who aren’t paying taxes, who are the vast majority.” They should be the focus of GRA, and we would collect more taxes from the great majority.”
He also encouraged the GRA to implement an incentive scheme depending on the number of new taxpayers brought into the net by GRA officers.
The Vice President also stated that beginning in December 2023, the government will implement a new system in which every child born in Ghana will be assigned a Ghana Card number.
Dr. Bawumia additionally stated that as a result of the Ghana card, a credit scoring system would be implemented next year, with individuals who are diligent in repaying their debts receiving lower interest rates and greater access to loans.
