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Dr. Gideon Boako has responded to the reaction of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) workers regarding Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's claim that businesses are being harassed in the name of tax collection.

On Wednesday, March 20, Dr Bawumia attributed this issue to the GRA's imposition of unattainable targets on its officers, leading to excessive taxation of existing businesses.

Bawumia Calls Out GRA

Dr Bawumia, during a meeting with the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry members, said the current tax regime is a burden on businesses.

“They are harassing businesses. That harassment is coming from the sort of targets that are created at their office. They are setting unrealistic targets. And this is because the tax base is so narrow, you say to them, 'this is your target for this month', and they are trying to figure out where do I go.”

“Then for them, it is very easy, you go back to where you had it the last time. You go to taxpayers, the people who are already paying taxes and then you have to come up with a new reason why they should pay more and so you come up with all sorts of stuff," he said.

GRA Reaction

But GRA staff say the Vice President's statements undermine their hard work. 

“We would like to state unequivocally that, we, the workers of GRA, find this statement unfortunate and consider it as an attack on the efforts of the hardworking staff of the Authority, which, if not discontinued, would incur the displeasure of workers, disrupt revenue collection efforts, and breed industrial disharmony,” they said in a press release.

They added; “We wish to place on record that the unprecedented growth in Tax revenue collected in 2023, which yielded in excess of GH₵113bn, is a major factor that has kept Ghana in the IMF bailout program. It is also an undeniable fact that the GRA has since the 2020 fiscal year met and, in some cases, exceeded the annual revenue targets despite the challenges of COVID-19.”

The Authority also said, "the least we expect from the Vice President, if he would not appreciate the efforts of the Authority in raising Tax Revenue, is not to put the lives of our hardworking staff at risk with such unfortunate comments".

Bawumia's Spokesperson Claps Back

Tackling the issue during Peace FM's Monday edition of the "Kokrokoo" show, the spokesperson for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Dr. Gideon Boako, explained that the Vice President had no intention to downplay the hard work of the GRA staff; rather, his comments were in response to the harassment that some GRA officers subject business owners to.

According to him, Dr. Bawumia's concerns are that there should be a flat tax system to enable business owners to gain enough income to ease the tax pressure on them and furthermore discourage the culture of harassment.

"They have problems with a certain report, as if the Vice President says they are not doing their work effectively. I am saying that that is not what the Vice President said, and it must be settled that the Vice President did not impugn on the integrity of the GRA workers or suggest that the GRA workers aren't doing their job well.

"One thing is clear that Ghanaian businessmen have a problem with our tax system. One of the issues they have is what they describe as harassment from some officers of the Ghana Revenue Authority, and this is what the Vice President spoke  about," Dr. Boako fired back at the GRA.

Watch video below