Revenue Agencies Board honours taxpayers

Revenue agencies will exceed the projected target for this year, Mr Harry Owusu, Executive Secretary of the Revenue Agencies Governing Board, said on Thursday.

Government has projected a revenue of GH¢3,543.42 million for 2008.

Collections as at the end of September stood at GH¢2,660.28 million and likely to exceed the projected revenue, Mr Owusu said.

He was speaking at an award ceremony during which 44 corporate entities and individuals were given various awards for their outstanding contribution towards revenue mobilization for the year 2007.

The award scheme was instituted to show appreciation to taxpayers for their contribution to national development and encourage voluntary tax compliance among corporate bodies and individuals.

It is also to foster closer collaboration among the revenue agencies - Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU); Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS); Value Added Tax Service (VATS) - and above all complement the respective tax education campaigns.

Mr Owusu said the improvement in taxpayer compliance and the reductions in tax rates had helped to lift the tax revenue contribution to GDP growth from 17.22 in 2001 to 19.1 per cent in 2007.

Professor George Gyan Baffour, Deputy Minister of Finance, said enhanced revenue collection would enable government to meet the country's development aspirations.

He said taxes were critical and condemned activities of people who undervalued their goods at the entry points.

Awards were grouped into tax types - Corporate Income Tax; Petroleum Revenue; Value Added Tax; Excise Revenue; Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) and Self-employed.

The awards are graded in platinum, gold, silver and bronze.

The awards night was aimed at whipping-up voluntary Tax-Compliance among corporate bodies and individuals.

The main criterion for selection for the awards was the compliance level of taxpayer and not necessarily the quantum of payment.