Continue patronizing Netflix, Amazon, others to help GRA collect more taxes – Tech expert

Operation of portal to commence on April 1

Non-resident persons engaged in cross-border business to register on the GRA portal

2.4 million people out of Ghana’s 30.8 million population pay direct taxes

Technology Consultant and Digital Lead of Pop Out, Maximus Ametorgoh has said, Ghanaian consumers may pay slightly more for products on sites such Amazon, Netflix, Jumia, Alibaba, others, who will be registered on GRA’s non-resident e-commerce platform.

The Ghana Revenue Authority’s non-resident E-commerce and Digital Service Registration Portal is to rake in about GH¢1.7 billion from online businesses like Netflix, Jumia, Alibaba, Amazon, etc.

According to the GRA, the operation of the portal is expected to commence from 1st April 2022.

The portal forms part of the government’s efforts to increase its revenue mobilization.

Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, speaking at the launch of the new portal in Accra stated that the development will help the GRA meet its revenue target of GH¢80.3billion.

Speaking in an interview with Citi Business News, Maximus Ametorgoh stated the GRA’s move is a laudable one but the government needs to do more to be able to tax online businesses.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction because a lot of e-commerce happens within the virtual space of Ghana which goes untaxed. They however need to work on the laws of Ghana to cover more areas of the virtual space for taxation purposes.”

He however called on Ghanaians to continue patronizing these platforms to help the GRA collect more taxes.

“Definitely the consumers will have to pay a bit more in terms of the cost of the product they buy online. We should expect that when we buy something on Amazon, or Google and the likes there will be some taxes that will be applied and the cost of the product may go up. We should however pay for the increases because as citizens we should also pay our taxes. With the amount of money being spent on the e-commerce space in Ghana government should certainly have its share of that cake.”