Bawumia slams GRA for harassing businesses over tax

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has slammed the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for what he described as harassment of businesses in their bid to collect tax revenue.

According to him, the act results from the unrealistic targets the GRA sets for its tax compliance officers each month.

"So you say today that this is your tax target for this month, then I am trying to figure out where do I go? Then, for them, it is very easy; you go back to where you got it the last time.

"You go to the taxpayers, the people who are already paying tax, and then you have to come up with a new reason why they have to pay more, so you come out with all manner of stuff.” Dr. Bawumia expressed this worry while speaking at an engagement with the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Accra.

The move keeps him abreast of the chamber's pertinent concerns, which will be factored into his manifesto and policy decisions.

The vice president also blamed the narrowness of the tax base as the reason behind the challenges.

“There are lots of hardworking people there; they are my friends, but I am saying that the targets that are set by these hardworking officers sometimes are very unrealistic, and that leads to harassment of businesses because you have to get something out of them.

"This is why I say prepaying when you haven’t earned one cedi, and you have to prepare, and so I’ve been looking at this very seriously, and we are going to change the system,” Dr Bawumia stated.