The Ghana Revenue Authority Workers’ Union (GRAWU) has expressed dislike for a statement attributed to Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia to the effect that the GRA is harassing taxpayers.
According to members of GRAWU, they find the statement unfortunate.
“We have observed and listened with utter dismay and disbelief reports on media platforms regarding pronouncements made by the Vice President to the effect that “GRA is harassing taxpayers and businesses.” We would like to state unequivocally that, we the workers of GRA find this statement unfortunate and consider it as an attack on the efforts of the hard-working staff of the Authority which if not discontinued, would incur the displeasure of workers, disrupt revenue collection efforts and breed industrial disharmony,” they said in a press release dated March 22.
It would be recalled that on March 20, while addressing members of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry at a forum to seek their input into his manifesto for the 2024 elections, Dr. Bawumia attributed the current situation where businesses are made to pay numerous taxes to the GRA’s practice of setting unrealistic targets for its officers.
“They are harassing businesses. That harassment is coming from the sort of target that are created at their office. They are setting unrealistic targets. And this is because the tax base is so narrow you say to them, this is your target for this month, and they are trying to figure out where do I go?
“Then for them, it is very easy, you go back to where you had it the last time. You go to taxpayers, the people who are already paying taxes and then you have to come up with a new reason why they should pay more and so you come up with all sorts of stuff,” Dr Bawumia said.
However, the GRA workers said but for their efforts, Ghana may not have qualified for the support granted by the International Monetary Fund.
“We wish to place on record that the unprecedented growth in tax revenue collected in
2023 which yielded in excess of GHS113bn is a major factor that has kept Ghana in
the IMF bailout program. It is also an undeniable fact that the GRA has since the 2020
fiscal year met and in some cases exceeded the annual revenue targets despite the
challenges of COVID-19.
It is strange that the Vice President, who also doubles as the Head of the Economic
Management Team could suggest that the Authority gives itself unrealistic targets
whiles he is well aware that annual targets are assigned to the Authority by the
government through the Ministry of Finance. Indeed, the least we expect from the
Vice President, if he would not appreciate the efforts of the Authority in raising Tax
Revenue, is not to put the lives of our hardworking staff at risk with such unfortunate
comments,” the workers stressed.
They emphasised that “The GRA administers tax in accordance with laws
enacted by the Parliament of Ghana and not based on the whims and caprices of the
workers. We also call on the President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the GRA Board, Civil Society organizations and all well-meaning
Ghanaians to admonish political functionaries to desist from making such
pronouncements and intervene swiftly as this statement possess a major risk to
revenue mobilization efforts going forward.”
“What we need as workers of GRA is policy direction and investment necessary for the
transformation of GRA into a world class Revenue Administration. We implore all workers in the Authority to remain calm and go about their daily duties professionally as always and to be rest assured that leadership would do its best to safeguard and protect them at all times,” the press release stated.
“Finally, we call on all persons to file their personal and/or corporate annual income tax
returns for 2023 Year of Assessment as well as pay their taxes faithfully,” they urged.