Piloting of a digital platform —Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS) – by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has shown an improvement in revenue mobilisation.
“In the customs area, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to support customs classification and valuation has gone live, and we are happy to know that in the first week, the transactions that came in raised additional revenue of more than a million dollars,” the Commissioner-General of the GRA, Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, has said.
The Commissioner-General was speaking at the 2026 top management retreat in Sekondi, Western Region, on the theme: “Transforming for impact and growth: Focusing on people, performance, and compliance.”
ITA System
Mr Sarpong said that the deployment of ITAS was a key tool to enhance domestic mobilisation, adding, “I am happy to note that the team has worked so hard and I can report that by next month, ITAS will go live to revolutionise our domestic task mobilisation efforts”.
The Commissioner-General added that GRA was on course to revolutionise e-commerce and digital transactions.
He said a sentinel platform, which was an interface with banking and financial systems, was also being piloted to ensure that “we are able to collect Value Added Tax (VAT) at the point of payment, particularly for cross-border transactions.”
Mr Sarpong, however, said that successful mobilisation of revenue, especially at the scale required, depended on deepening voluntary compliance and, therefore, urged management and staff of GRA to accelerate delivery of key initiatives that were important to closing the tax gap and enhancing revenue mobilisation.
The authority is expected to mobilise GH¢230 billion in domestic revenue.
“Let me say that meeting this target will not be achieved by business as usual.
It requires a transformed authority, one that is strategically aligned, operationally efficient, ethically grounded, trusted by taxpayers, and requires leadership that is deliberate, cohesive and forward-looking,” he said.
Mr Sarpong further said that revenue mobilisation at that scale depended fundamentally on the quality of leadership and the capability of its workforce, adding that transformation would begin with “how we lead, how we model values, manage performance, develop talent and engage our people.”
Assurance
The Board Chairman of GRA, Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, said they were committed to providing the necessary policy direction, oversight and support required for management and staff to succeed.
“We have confidence in your collective capacity and recognise the importance of your role in advancing national development.
“It is the board’s expectation that this retreat will result in renewed clarity of purpose, strengthened leadership resolve, and actionable commitment that translates into improved performance outcomes,” Mr Rickets-Hagan, who is also the Member of Parliament for Cape Coast South, added.
Lifestyle audit
The President of the Western Region House of Chiefs, Nana Kobina Nketsia V, urged the GRA staff to work in the national interest.
Nana Nketsia V, who is also the Paramount Chief of Essikado Traditional Area, commended the management of GRA and urged them to go beyond taxable incomes and include lifestyle audit.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh