Use Technology To Make Tax Administration Acceptable To All – Bawumia

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, Friday, urged the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority to take advantage of technology to implement an e-solution platform – the total revenue integrated processing system – to administer taxes.

“With this, tax administration will not only reduce the turn-around time for taxpayers to do business but will also improve service delivery,” he stated.

He said the country had reached a stage in her development, where it could not progress without adopting appropriate, current and improved technology to make tax administration convenient for taxpayers.

Dr Bawumia was speaking at the closing ceremony of the 38th Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA) Annual Technical Conference, in Accra.The five-day conference, which was on the theme: “Leveraging Technology to Enhance Revenue Administration”, brought together 209 participants from 18 Commonwealth countries and International Tax Organisations.

The discussion of the conference was developed around two sub topics; “Facilitating, Monitoring and Enabling Compliance through Technology and Equipping Staff with skills to deliver in an Increasingly Digital Environment.

He charged the participants to be ambassadors of what technology could do and take the initiative in recommending e-solution to deal with issues.

He said the Customs Division of the GRA in September, this year, started the implementation of a paperless clearance of goods from the ports and these two platforms were greatly helping in the GRA’s revenue mobilization drive, which was an ample testimony of the what technology could achieve when properly leveraged.  The Vice President urged the delegates, especially those from developing parts of the Commonwealth, not to lose sight of what technology could achieve for revenue administration.

Source GNA