Ghana loses GH¢3 billion after reduction in benchmark values — GRA
The Commissioner of Customs Division Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Colonel Kwadwo Damoah, has disclosed that the country has lost GH¢3 billion in revenue from taxes generated on imported goods as a result of the reduction in the benchmark values.
The Commissioner of Customs Division Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Colonel Kwadwo Damoah, has disclosed that the country has lost GH¢3 billion in revenue from taxes generated on imported goods as a result of the reduction in the benchmark values.
He said the amount was lost between April 2019, when the implementation of the policy started, and March 2022 when it was reviewed.
This comes after the government reduced the benchmark values on general goods from 50% to 30% as well as import discounts on vehicles from 30% to 10%.
The reduction follows a consensus between Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the leadership of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), and Institute of Freight Forwarders and the GRA in February 2022.
The reversal was to affect 143 items under three categories prescribed by the GRA.
Colonel Kwadwo Damoah speaking on the benchmark reduction at a sensitization workshop to discuss and educate AGI's members on some of GRA's policies, recent initiatives that impact business, the four percent Value Added Tax (VAT) flat rate, and the implementation of the E-levy, said applying the discounts up to 50 percent cost the country about GH¢3 billion every year.
READ MORE: 50% benchmark value reversal: All you need to know
"In 2019 it had already gone past the first quarter, it was from April. So, the amount involved there was not as much as the full year of 2020 and 2021. We have estimated it to be GH¢3 billion yearly," he said.
He indicated that the government is expected to gain an estimated GH¢2.5 billion from reducing the discounts from 50 percent to 30 percent for general goods and 30 percent to 10 for vehicles.
This, he noted will, however, be dependent on volumes of imports that come into the country and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
"If we had implemented the cut from the beginning of the year, we would expect to gain about GH¢3 billion; but because we started from March we lost out on that, so maybe about GH¢2.5 billion; that is our expectation. That is if volumes of imports remain the same," he noted.
