By Elizabeth Larkwor Baah
Tema, May 21, GNA – The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has held a stakeholder engagement to educate businesses and industry players on the implementation of the Growth and Sustainability Levy (GSL), with a strong focus on the online filing process.
The event, which brought together representatives from various sectors, aimed to address concerns, clarify procedures, and promote voluntary compliance with the levy.
Assistant Commissioner Mr Joseph Asare, Accra East Area Director of the GRA, stated that the session was part of the authority’s annual tax and good governance month, which was supposed to have been held in April, aimed at educating stakeholders on the tax landscape and fostering a transparent and taxpayer-friendly environment.
He noted that there had been a marked improvement in compliance levels, attributing it to ongoing sensitisation and stakeholder education efforts, and also acknowledged the media’s pivotal role in advancing public awareness and understanding of tax obligations.
Assistant Commissioner Asare further indicated that the GRA would intensify tax education efforts this year, focusing on targeted segments of the economy, explaining that the move would be informed by an analysis of existing weaknesses and gaps in tax administration, with the goal of aligning taxpayer expectations with compliance requirements.
He urged companies to take advantage of the GRA’s digital resources and support services to ease the filing process, highlighting the authority’s intention to increase sensitisation efforts across regions to ensure that no business was left uninformed or unsupported.
Mrs Lydia Owusu-Banahene, Office Manager, Taxpayer Service Centre, Tema Community Nine, said that the emergence of COVID-19 severely impacted businesses, leading to a decline in tax compliance at a time when the government expenditure was rising, noting that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict further exacerbated the economic challenges.
Mrs Owusu-Banahene explained that the government introduced several measures, including the Growth and Sustainability Levy, to cushion its activities and therefore called on the taxpayers to comply with the quarterly payments of the levy, emphasising that the government had extended its implementation period to 2028, making compliance essential, just as with other tax obligations.
She also highlighted the presence of relationship officers within the GRA who were available to assist taxpayers by clarifying any aspects of the tax system they might not understand and encouraged the business community to engage and freely communicate their challenges with these officers.
Mr Martin Opoku Abankwah, an official from the GRA, took participants through the online portal and filing system, highlighting key features that businesses need to use to comply with the quarterly submission requirements.
Mr Abankwah demonstrated how they could file using an online platform, showing how to generate tax assessments, make payments, and submit quarterly returns, among other things.
He also explained how entities could determine which category (A, B, or C) they fall under and how to calculate the levy based on their profit before tax or gross production, depending on their classification.
GNA
Edited By Laudia Sawer/Benjamin Mensah