Move to tax e-commerce, online businesses prudent to widen tax net – Tax analyst

GRA embarks on aggressive revenue generation drive

GRA targets GH¢2.7 billion from social media tax

GRA to pilot e-commerce, gaming and sports betting tax regime in April

Francis Timore Boi, a tax analyst, has commended the Ghana Revenue Authority for its move to commence taxing of sports betting, gaming and e-commerce firms operating in the country.

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Beginning April this year, the Authority plans to pilot the tax regime which seeks to generate substantial revenue.

Reacting to the development in an interview with Citi Business News, the tax analyst believes the implementation of the move will become effective if thorough due diligence is conducted in monitoring the activities of online firms.

“If you are providing electronic transactions, you’re supposed to register and pay the VAT, so it’s not a new tax. The challenge was that there were no mechanisms and tools were in place. Because it was easy for evasion and avoidance of taxes. But now the GRA has put in the relevant measures, and they are saying that they’ve reached out to companies like Netflix to register, I believe there is a huge potential,” Timore Boi is quoted by Citi Business News.

“Possibly, they can start with the indirect taxes then we move to the next level and begin discussions on how to tax the income these foreign companies have earned from Ghana. So, it is possible, but all we need is the tools to monitor effectively. And we hope that the current software will help monitor the transactions well,” he continued.

Meanwhile, as part of efforts to rake in revenue and widen the tax net, the GRA is targeting a revenue collection of GH¢2.7 billion from a ‘social media tax’.

The move will mean that the likes of Google, Twitter, Netflix and others will be compelled to comply with Ghana’s e-commerce tax.