The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has been tasked to set up a digital avenue called a “Common Platform” for the effective collection of property rates in the country.
Presenting the 2022 Economic Statement and Budget Policy to Parliament on Wednesday (17 November), Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta said the Ghana Revenue Authority will begin these processes in January 2022.
He said, “Property rates have the potential to increase revenue mobilisation for MMDAs and release resources for the provision of basic infrastructure as well as the needs of our localities.”
“Property rate assessment and collection pose a challenge to most MMDAs and are fraught with inefficiencies. Government, through the Ghana Revenue Authority, will from January 2022, assist the MMDAs to implement a common platform for property rate administration to enhance property rate collections and its accountability,” he said.
Earlier this month, Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said the government has developed a national common platform for property tax administration for the country.
He said the common platform will operate across all the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies across the country.
According to Dr Bawumia, it is unacceptable for property owners to evade taxes, adding that the lack of an effective property tax regime accounts for this evasion by owners of properties.
However, some analysts have argued that the GRA should not be burdened with the Collection of Property Rate as it is the responsibility of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMADs), as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution and articulated in the Local Government Act 2016, Act 936.
Nicholas Brown
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