Govt to review laws governing revenue generation
The government has initiated moves to review some
of the laws governing internal revenue generation to conform with international
best standards and also to reflect the nation’s status as a middle income
country.
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The legislation includes Customs Management Law,
which is over 15 years old, and the Internal Revenue Act, Value Added Tax Law
and Tax Administration Law, which are all above 10 years old,
According to the Minister of Finance and Economic
Planning, Mr Seth Tekpe, the laws would undergo comprehensive
transformation because apart from being old, they had also suffered from
separate and uncoordinated amendments over the years.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview in Accra Fridday after interacting with members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants-Ghana, Mr Tekpe said the review had become necessary because the several and separate amendments to those laws “could also bring about inconsistencies which were not intended”.
Established by an Act of Parliament, Act 170, in
1963, the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana, is the sole body
charged with the regulation of the accountancy profession in Ghana.
Its
members are the only persons recognised under the Companies Code (Act 179)
1963, for the purpose of auditing of company accounts.
Mr Tekpe said the drafts bills are ready and would
in the shortest possible time be laid before Parliament for consideration and
passage.
The minister said the “comprehensive review” had
become necessary because almost all the laws were old.
He said as the nation prepared for middle income,
“they way you do things in middle income are different and we must seek to
enhance our laws”.
Mr Tekpe said, with current status as the middle
income, country was required to present its financial statements in conformity
with the best practices.
The minister said the Ghana Investment Promotion
Council (GIPC) draft bill was ready to be laid in Parliament and that Ministry
of Finance would intensify its effort to collaborate with the institute in
financial management systems.
Mr Tekpe, who is a member of the institute, and
once a council member, said Ghana could not afford to be protected by old laws,
especially, at the time when the nation had begun commercial production of oil.
The President of the institute, Mrs Angela Peasah,
said the delegation was at the ministry to congratulate the minister on his
appointment as the Minister of Finance, a position which he said was good
reflection of the work of the institute and also dialogue on the way forward
for accounting practice in Ghana.
She explained that the discussions also centred on how as practitioners, they could collaborate with the minister who was the head of the public sector accounting
Story by Donald Ato Dapatem