The Bolgatanga Small Taxpayers Office, (STO), of the Ghana Revenue Authority, (GRA), in 2018 raked in 12 million Ghana cedis out of a target of 17 million Ghana cedis resulting in a negative deviation of 5 million Ghana cedis.
The target of the Customs Division of the GRA in the Upper East Region in 2018, was 18 million, five hundred and twenty thousand Ghana cedis but it managed to collect 13 million, seven hundred and one thousand, two hundred and sixty four Ghana cedis.
The GRA fell short of its target by 4 million, eight hundred and eight thousand, seven hundred and thirty-five Ghana cedis.
Some of the challenges that caused both the STO of the GRA and the Customs Division of the GRA to miss its set target include inadequate staff to patrol the frontier, inadequate logistics for patrols, and the rise of the CFA currency against the cedi among others.
This came to light at a press soiree organized by the GRA for the media in the Upper East Region in Bolgatanga.
The purpose of the press soiree was to enable management and staff of GRA to interact, fraternize and socialize with the media to learn more about each other’s mandated responsibilities in an informal environment.
The set revenue target of the Customs Division of the GRA in the Upper East Region for 2019 is 18 million, five hundred and eleven thousand, seven hundred and twenty Ghana cedis.
The Sector Commander of the Customs Division of the GRA, Baffour Yaw Asare, underscored the need for the GRA to constantly engage the media about their activities.
The Manager of the Bolgatanga Small Taxpayers Office, STO, Mark-Donald Pwawari, highlighted some of the challenges confronting his office as under declaration of returns, and later payments among among other.
Some of the measures put in place by the STO of the GRA and the Customs Division of the GRA to enable them meet their 2019 set targets include intensifying patrols along the frontier with support from NABCO interns, Intensifying the interception of uncustomed motorbikes and vehicles and block all the revenue leakages stemming out of diversions of transit, freezone and re-export cargo.
Story filed by Emmanuel Akayeti
