Gaming Commission, GRA sign MoU to aid tax collection
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Gaming Commission have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at deepening collaboration between the two agencies and aid in the collection of revenue from the gaming sector. in a short ceremony yesterday.
At a short ceremony in Accra yesterday, the Commissioner General of the GRA, Rev. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, said the signing of the MoU was critical because it was a means of expanding the tax net to make Ghana sustainable in the financing of its developmental agenda.
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“In the 2021 national budget statement, the GRA was tasked to mobilise about GH¢400 million from the gaming industry, and the signing of the MoU is a step towards that task,” he stated.
He added that the initiative of taxing the games of chance was not the introduction of new taxes but charging of Value Added Tax (VAT), saying customers were not the ones to pay the taxes but owners of gaming centres.
Collaboration.
Rev. Owusu-Amoah said the collaboration between the Gaming Commission and the GRA was not new, and that the signing of the MoU was to aid educate the public on the need for punters to support the government by paying taxes on bets and stakes.
The commission and the GRA, in their quest to ensure fairness, transparency, efficiency and convenience in the payment of taxes, took it upon themselves to sensitise operators of games of chance on a regular basis, with the aim of making tax compliance friendlier, he added.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Gaming Commission, Mr Peter Mireku, expressed joy about the signing of the MoU, and expressed the hope that it would be a great step in helping the GRA to achieve its task of raising the amount allocated to it by the government.
“The signing of the MoU is a giant step towards harnessing revenue from all taxable sources within the gaming commission,” he said.
Support.
Mr Mireku pledged the support of the commission to the GRA, as he believed it was a means to mobilise revenue for the consolidated fund.
“For development to be sustainable depends on the efficiency and willingness of the citizenry to pay tax, and so we are happy to collaborate with the GRA to collect taxes for the consolidated fund,” he said.
“We are happy to announce that the Gaming Commission is ready and willing to release effective data for the gaming space to the GRA for the authority to be able to collect taxes easily.
“We hope that the GRA’s target will be achieved at the end of the year,” he added.