Mr Anthony K. Sarpong, the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, has urged African tax administrators to share ideas on best practices to improve revenue mobilisation.
Mr Sarpong gave the advice in Accra at the opening of a three-day workshop to validate the 2024 African Tax Outlook (ATO).
The workshop organised by the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) is on the theme: “Timely publication of the ATO and its impact on tax administrations.”
The objectives of the workshop, among others, are to ensure that the ATO dashboards have been updated and the preliminary analysis of the 2024 ATO edition is presented.
The Commissioner-General said the workshop presented an opportunity for participating tax administrations to share experiences while expanding their network with other countries on tax-related issues.
“As we meet every year to receive input and ideas on the ATO, it shapes the publication and makes it one of the best in the world.
“The ATO publication is extremely important because it provides reliable tax-related information for international financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, and stakeholders in the tax administration system,” he said.
The Commissioner-General said it was the expectation of GRA that the ATO be published in a timely manner to achieve its objectives better.
“It will serve as a platform to compare tax indicators of the various participating countries, such as tax rates, tax bases, tax structure, revenue performance, tax administration, taxpayer service, and compliance,” he said.
He said the indicators were crucial to African Revenue Authorities in implementing reforms and policies to broaden the tax base, narrow tax gaps, and simplify and improve fairness in tax systems.
Mr Sarpong advised the participants to use the workshop to learn more about the data collection processes and the ATAF data collection portal to improve the quality of the data.
Mr Frank Mbuyamba, ATAF Manager, underscored the importance of harnessing and analysing data for informed decision-making and effective policy making.
The workshop, he stated, would serve as a critical resource providing comprehensive data and insight into the taxation landscape across the continent.
“The ATO investigates the revenue performance, the efficiency of the tax system, as well as the assessment of key administrative functions of our tax administration.
“In line with the objective of this project, we shall provide evidence-based recommendations for reforms in tax administration and policy,” he said.
