The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is to stamp out tax evasion and avoidance by companies and individual taxpayers whose business operations extend beyond the country.
This will be achieved through tax transparency and information sharing between Ghana and other countries where the companies and individuals operated based on request.
This was made known at the opening of a two-day workshop for tax auditors and administrators on the exchange of information for tax purposes organised by the GRA, in collaboration with the Global Forum on Exchange of Information.
Measures The Commissioner General of the GRA, Mr George Blankson, said international tax evasion and avoidance were major obstacles in securing sustainable domestic finance for development.
“With all the problems that transfer pricing and based erosion and profit shifting poses to tax administration, it has become imperative to put in place an effective mechanism that plugs the loopholes and prevents tax avoidance and evasion,” he said.
To ensure that corporate bodies and individual lived up to their tax obligations, he said Ghana had invested resources in signing a number of multilateral conventions and tax information exchange agreements.
He said additionally, Ghana had passed a transfer pricing regulation and also established a unit for transfer pricing audits in order that corporate bodies and individuals “pay the right amount of tax at the right time in the right place”.
In 2011, Mr Blankson said, Ghana took a further step by becoming the 100th member of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for tax purposes.
Illicit financial flows The Tax Policy Advisor at the Ministry of finance , Mr Edward Larbi Siaw, said considering the challenges that Ghana was currently facing, improvement in domestic revenue mobilisation through the detection of tax evasion and protection was critical.
The African Development Bank and the Global Financial Integrity estimate that Africa loses between $50 billion and $80 billion annually through illicit financial outflows.
Mr Siaw was, however, optimistic that the implementation of the exchange of information to limit illicit financial flows and tax evasion would not hinder individuals and businesses’ decision to invest in and outside Ghana.
According to him, the needed confidentiality and necessary rights and safeguards of taxpayers and third parties would be accorded.
African initiative The Head of the Global Forum on Exchange of Information, Ms Monica Bhatia, said in spite of the benefits to be derived from joining the forum, only 20 African countries were currently members.
She said as part of measures to get more members, the forum had commenced a project dubbed: ‘The African Initiative’.
According to her, Ghana, Cameroun, Burkina Faso and Kenya had already signed onto the initiative as a form of commitment to assist in unlocking the potential for transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes in Africa.
Under the initiative, members are expected to make over 30 requests for information for the administration or enforcement of domestic tax laws from other countries.
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