The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Anthony Sarpong, says the state could be losing close to one billion Ghana cedis every month due to under declaration of imports detected through a new monitoring system.
Speaking on Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV on Monday, April 13, Mr Sarpong said the Authority’s data points to significant revenue leakages at the country’s ports.
“We are seeing on an average declaration, lower declarations of about three million US dollars a day. That translates into almost one billion Ghana cedis a month,” he said.
He explained that while most importers comply with tax rules, a minority group is consistently under declaring goods, creating distortions in the market.
“That tells us that the 25 percent group that is under declaring is a huge revenue leakage for the state,” he said.
Mr Sarpong warned that the situation is not only affecting government revenue but also creating unfair competition among traders.
“Some importers are benefiting while a wider 75 percent are not. That creates market distortions because competitors are not operating on the same footing,” he added.
He stressed the need for uniform standards in tax compliance across the board.
“If we all believe in parity, let the same standard apply to all. If we believe in equity, let the same standard apply to all. And if we believe in transparency, let the same standard apply to all,” he said.
According to him, the Ghana Revenue Authority is engaging trade associations and stakeholders to address the challenge collaboratively rather than through confrontation.
“We have started engagement. We have invited them and we are working with them,” he said.
He added that the ultimate goal is to protect both government revenue and legitimate businesses while ensuring fairness in the trading environment.
“If we work together, we will bring sanity into the system. Government revenue will be protected, business will be protected, and the market will also be protected,” he said.
