The Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) has presented Four Hundred and Fifty laptops valued at $247,000.00 to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

This forms part of GCNet’s commitment to support the GRA and Government of Ghana to increase the country’s revenue generation for accelerated economic development.

The laptops will facilitate operations of field officers of the Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD) of the GRA to boost domestic revenue collection.

Presenting the items to GRA through the Ministry of Finance, Executive Chairman of GCNet, Dr. Nortey Omaboe, expressed confidence that the laptops would help officers of DTRD to use the trips TM system that GCNet has deployed, while on the go.

About GCNet

GCNet is a Public-Private Partnership that was incorporated on November 13, 2000. Its shareholders are Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA), Ecobank Ghana Limited (EBG), Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) and Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) of Switzerland.

GCNet, an Innovator and Leader in the Provision of e-Solutions to Governments, has developed and deployed Ghana’s Single Window Platform for Processing Trade Transactions and Customs Clearances. The System is made up of a front-end Electronic Messaging Platform (the TradeNet) and a back-end System (the Ghana Customs Management System).

The System allows for a 24/7 processing of declarations and is currently deployed at Customs Headquarters and all the key Customs Stations. Ninety-eight (98) percent of Customs revenue is collected through the System. In addition to GCMS, linkage of other back-end applications (e.g. Automated Registration of Vehicles, Income Tax Declarations, Social Security Declarations etc.) is possible.

Close to Forty (40) Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) including the Ghana Free Zones Board (GFZB), Ghana Standards Authority, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ghana Investment Protection Centre (GIPC), Ministries of Trade and Finance etc.., access the TradeNet for various operational purposes.

Impact

To date, GCNet has invested over $80m in the business with coverage across the nation on the back of up to date infrastructure to ensure data integrity, business continuity and security in the space in which it operates The impact has been a significant increase in the domestic tax revenue collection processed through tripsTM of GHS 15.4 bn in 2017, representing a thirty two per cent (32%) increase over the same period in 2016 with the collection of GHS 12bn.

In 2018, domestic revenue collected through tripsTM amounted to GHS 19.4bn. This has been largely the result of the strategic geographical roll out of 69 tax offices currently using tripsTM.

The Registrar - Generals’ Department (RGD) has witnessed significant improvements in turnaround time for business registrations, revenue and online transactions through the deployment of the e-Registrar. For instance, since the deployment of the e-Registrar by GCNet, the RGD has recorded GHS 94.28m in revenue in 2018 representing almost 30 per cent increase in total revenues recorded in 2017 which was GHS 75.2m.

Other Awards

Among other awards, GCNet has won include Best e-Solutions Provider for the Public Sector, Best ICT Company in Ghana, Best Digital Innovative Finance Product (Letter of Commitment – LOC) and Public Sector ICT Provider of the Year. These awards show the confidence reposed in GCNet by our stakeholders and the general public.

Certification

GCNet as a repository of government data continues to leverage on many international certification regimes including ISO 27001 for information security management and ISO 9000 for quality management to further ensure security standards and compliance.

GCNet went through a sucessful re-certifcation of ISO 27001:2013 for its GeGov operation and ISO 9001:2015 for the TradeNet Business. The company accordingly received the ISO 27001:2013 certtifcate for itsTradeNet buiness after a successful certifiation audit. The company continues to strive for international standards in all its business operation

He assured that GCNet would continue to offer logistic support to GRA in line with its commitment to contribute to resourcing field support officers to use the Total Revenue Integrated Processing Systems (trips TM) in building an efficient tax administration regime.

Hon. Kweku Kwarteng, Deputy Minister of Finance in charge of Revenue who received the laptops on behalf of GRA, expressed his excitement at GCNet’s gesture noting that it would assist greatly to achieve the targets of the DTRD.

“While DTRD officers have desktop computers installed for them at various tax offices, the flexibility to undertake field operations is constrained by the limited number of laptops presently available to them. This situation, for instance, constrains their capacity to undertake tax audits on the premises of the taxpayer efficiently” observed Mr. Kwarteng.

Domestic tax revenue generated through GCNet’s trips TM System, recorded GHC 19.4bn as at end of 2018. This was largely responsible for the DTRD’s ability to exceed its collection target of GHC 24.4bn by more than GHC 850m or 3.5% against planned collection target of GHC 23.5bn

Over the past five years, there has been a sustained increase in the domestic tax collection processed through (trips TM), from GHC 3bn generated in 2014, GHC 9bn in 2015 to almost GHC 12bn in 2016. Since the introduction of (trips TM), for domestic tax collection, more GHS 55 billion has been collected. All 69 GRA tax offices of the DTRD are hooked on to the trips TM system.

In 2018, the DTRD exceeded its revenue target, with public sensitization, infrastructure support from GCNet and diligence from the GRA Staff.

In another development, GCNet has extended logistic support to the Accra (Jamestown) Collection Office of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) with items valued at over$13,000.00. The items included air-conditioners, office desks, table top fridges and office chairs among others.

Sector Commander for the Accra Collection Office, Mr. Emmanuel Ohene, commended GCNet for the gesture and noted that the logistic support would go a long way to enhance revenue collection efforts by the James Town office. GCNet has also undertaken a massive refurbishment of the office in early 2016 at a cost of over Three Hundred Thousand Ghana cedis (GHS300, 000.00).