The Ghana Revenue Authority missed its revenue target for the first eight months of the year.
The Authority fell short of its target by 1.8 billion cedis.
As a result, it has engaged the services of consultancy firm, McKinsey, to help it block revenue leakages that persist in its revenue collection.
The Commissioner General of the GRA, Emmanuel Kofi Nti at an engagement with the media, outlined the performance of the Authority between January and August this year.
According to him, the overall underperformance is crucial for new strategies to be adopted.
“Our target was 24.46 billion cedis and we have collected 22.66 billion cedis; indicating that we
have registered a deficit of 1.8 billion cedis or -7.4percent. As at August 2018, Customs had registered a negative deviation of 1.7 billion cedis while the Domestic Tax Revenue division had an overall negative deviation of 83.8 million cedis or -0.6percent,” he said.
Citi Business News understands that the consultancy firm has already begun its work for about two months now.
Its mandate is among others to help the GRA block all revenue leakages which should increase revenue out of which it shall receive payments for work done.
“First, McKinsey is to help change GRA’s systems to be comparable to the best in revenue administration the world through simplifying our processes and introducing innovation. Secondly, investing heavily in training our staff to build their skills and finally, helping build the mindset of constant improvement through sourcing for ideas to change and improve GRA,” Mr. Nti indicated.
It is uncertain why the GRA is engaging another entity at a time where it is using other platforms such as the Cargo Tracking Notes to stop tax evasion.
Again, the transaction amount involved in securing the services of McKinsey is not readily available.
Meanwhile the authority believes its new strategies for the informal sector should help it rake in enough to meet the end of year target.
By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
