Kwasi Prempeh: Ghana’s inability to collect taxes woefully disappointing
The executive director of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) says the government as part of its attempt to generate revenue domestically should devise an effective avenue of implementing and collecting property tax
- Last year, Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said the government has developed a national common platform for property tax administration for the country.
- According to Prof. Prempeh, the government as part of its attempt to generate revenue domestically should devise an effective avenue of implementing and collecting property tax.
- "I do not disagree that as a country, we need to raise our tax collection. And as a country, we need to make a distinction between imposing a tax and actually collecting it. I think there are a lot of taxes on the books but our capacity to collect the taxes for me, is actually what is woefully lacking and disappointing."
Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh, the executive director of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has bemoaned Ghana’s lack of proactiveness in the collection of taxes.
He said that despite several tax policies in the country, successive governments have been ineffective in realising the appropriate revenue from the various tax measures.
According to Prempeh, the government as part of its attempt to generate revenue domestically should devise an effective avenue of implementing and collecting property tax.
“I do not disagree that as a country, we need to raise our tax collection. And as a country, we need to make a distinction between imposing a tax and actually collecting it. I think there are a lot of taxes on the books but our capacity to collect the taxes for me, is actually what is woefully lacking and disappointing.
“…So, on property rates, Accra has gone through this huge construction of real estate boom in commercial buildings, residential buildings, apartments worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and millions of dollars in the last 20 or so years.
“…If we were to ask the state to account for how much it collected in property taxes from this huge expansion, a huge construction boom, we will be surprised; not a whole lot. We don’t collect enough taxes,” Prempeh said.
Listen to Prof Prempeh in the attached audio below:
Digital platform for property tax
Last year, 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.
Dr Bawumia said 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.
Speaking at a public lecture at Ashesi University, on the “Role of Digitalisation in Transforming the Economy,” Dr Bawumia indicated that a digital platform has been developed and will soon be launched, through which homeowners will receive tax bills, pay taxes as well as track their payment history.
“We lack the key elements to implement and monitor an effective property tax regime. An effective property tax regime requires that we are able to identify all properties, access the value of all properties, identify and maintain a property ready database, send property tax bills to the owners and enforce the payment of taxes”.
He said, “Thanks to the implementation of the National ID, the National Digital Property address system, the mobile money interoperability and the Ghana.gov project, Ghana now has the infrastructure to implement a property tax system.
Bawumia said, “We have finally developed a national common platform for property tax administration for Ghana which will operate across all the MMDAs in Ghana. The platform is ready and is expected to be implemented by the ministry of local government”.
Nicholas Brown
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