January 9, 2019

Enhancing Revenue Mobilization in Ghana through Tax Compliances

Fiscal Alert 16: Enhancing Revenue Mobilization in Ghana through Tax Compliance. Ghana’s tax/GDP (rebased) ratio currently sits below 13%. Not only is the country’s tax revenue as a share of GDP low in absolute terms, but it is also very low as a share of GDP relative to those of its African peers, pointing to the need to significantly increase tax revenue. Developing mechanisms to improve tax revenue has, however, become challenging on at least two fronts: (i) lack of good data on tax compliance; and (ii) difficulty in finding effective instruments for improving compliance, given the institutional constraints. One […]
January 14, 2019

Enhancing Revenue Mobilization in Ghana through Tax Compliances

Enhancing Revenue Mobilization in Ghana through Tax Compliance. Ghana’s tax/GDP (rebased) ratio currently sits below 13%. Not only is the country’s tax revenue as a share of GDP low in absolute terms, but it is also very low as a share of GDP relative to those of its African peers, pointing to the need to significantly increase tax revenue. Developing mechanisms to improve tax revenue has however become challenging on at least two fronts: (i) lack of good data on tax compliance; and (ii) difficulty in finding effective instruments for improving compliance, given the institutional constraints. One way to raise […]
August 6, 2019

IFS’ Assessment of 2019 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review

On Monday July 29, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, presented the mid-year review of the 2019 budget statement and fiscal policy to Parliament. Notable fiscal policy changes that were announced include energy and communication tax hikes and a request to spend more money (supplementary expenditure estimates) relative to the initial 2019 budget appropriation. Prior to the mid-year budget, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) had reviewed the economy’s performance and provided recommendations to the government to address challenges identified. In what follows, we assess the notable developments in the mid-year review and make further recommendations to safeguard fiscal stability, which […]