Economist and Associate Professor at the Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research (ISSER), Prof. Charles Ackah, has elaborated on the need for Ghana to prioritise the collection of property taxes.

According to him, Ghana can achieve as high as GH¢12 billion annually from property taxes.

He further stated that the GRA’s target of about GH¢165 million is not ambitious enough.

“If you do the analysis and you decide to raise ¢165 million target in Accra alone, divide 165 million by the structures in Accra and each property is likely to pay just about 97 a year. This means that the target is quite low.

“According to my analysis, we could raise as much as ¢12 billion in property taxes alone. So, property tax holds a huge potential to boost the country’s tax revenues. Even if we focus on high-earned communities and the increasing luxury real estate, we can do more”, he said.

Prof. Ackah called on lawmakers to ensure that the set revenue targets are achieved as much as possible.

He added, “What we need to do is to mandate parliament to set revenue targets and apply punitive measures for failure to meet targets.”

The advocacy for the collection of property taxes has been a topical issue due to the country’s low revenue levels.

Many believe that maximizing the efforts in the collection of taxes will help increase the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio.

SSD/NOQ

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