The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) successfully registered 1,394,842 taxpayers in 2019, the Ministry of Finance revealed.
This brought the total number of taxpayers registered with Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) to 3,394,488 as at December 31, 2019, resulting from the drive to improve tax administration and expand the tax base.
These were contained in the ministry’s budget performance report for the 2019 presented to Parliament on April 8, 2020 by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Presenting the Finance Committee’s report on the budget performance, Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah said the Finance Ministry in the year under review “undertook some major technological initiatives to offer enhanced online services to taxpayers.
“These included the online Taxpayer TIN registration, introduction of the Integrated Tax Application and Preparation System App (iTAPS) to encourage voluntary filing, and payment and deployment of an integrated management system for customs administration.”
Expenditure Management
He reported that the ministry in 2019 deployed the GIFMIS to four IGF generating sites namely Medical and Dental Council, Ghana Export Promotion Authority, Ghana Free Zones Board, National Health Insurance Authority.
“Additionally, the Ghana Electronic Procurement System (GHANEPS) was launched and five pilot entities were trained on how to operate,” he said.
2019 Budget and Expenditure
For the 2019 financial year, the Ministry of Finance and its six agencies namely Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD), Ghana Statistical Service (655), Public Procurement Authority (PPA) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Institute of Accountancy Training (IAT) and the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) were allocated a total budget of GH¢563,808,391.
This figure was reduced by 5.4 per cent in the mid-year review of the 2019 budget to GH¢533,551,480, the ministry stated, and added that GH¢306,146,170 came from GoG, GH¢199,482,972 from DP Funds, GH¢24,944,309 from IGF and GH¢2,978,028 from ABFA.
“Actual expenditure outturn for the 2019 financial year amounted to GH¢524,522,567.39 representing 98.3% of the revised budget.”
Observations
The Finance Committee observed that real GDP growth recovered strongly from 3.4 per cent in 2016, growing at 8.1 per cent and 6.3 per cent in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
For 2019, real GDP was projected to grow by 7.6 per cent. However, this target was revised downwards to 7.0 per cent on the back of lower than expected crude oil and gas volumes envisaged at the time of the budget, Dr. Yeboah said.
“Provisional estimates for the first three quarters of 2019 indicate an average real GDP growth rate of 6.0 per cent, thus being on track to achieving the revised 7.0 per cent target for the entire year 2019,” he added.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House