The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has launched a National VAT Awareness and Compliance Campaign to tackle persistent gaps in value added tax (VAT) compliance, while introducing measures aimed at making registration, filing and payment easier for taxpayers.
The campaign, launched on Tuesday, September 22, 2026 in Accra, is being implemented under the theme ‘Request Your VAT Invoice, Help Build Our Nation’ and aims at improving voluntary compliance while encouraging consumers to demand VAT receipts for their purchases.
Speaking at the launch, Commissioner-Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD) Dr. Martin Yamborigya said despite reforms introduced over the years to modernise VAT administration, significant compliance gaps continue to undermine revenue mobilisation and create an uneven playing field for compliant businesses.
He identified failure by some VAT-registered businesses to issue invoices or receipts, businesses that qualify for VAT registration remaining outside the tax net, non-filing and late filing of returns and delays in tax payments as key challenges confronting the system.
“These practices weaken the VAT system’s integrity, reduce government revenue and create unfair competition for compliant businesses,” he said.
Dr. Yamborigya said the new campaign will therefore combine public education, stronger monitoring and enforcement, technology and data analytics to improve compliance.
Under the initiative, GRA will intensify taxpayer education through radio, television, digital platforms, community outreach, market activations and stakeholder engagements.
The authority will also strengthen compliance visits, invigilation exercises, risk-based audits and data-driven assessments to identify businesses that are failing to meet their VAT obligations.
Making compliance easier
A key component of the campaign is an expansion of digital taxpayer services to make registration, filing and payment faster and more convenient.
Dr. Yamborigya said taxpayers can now file returns electronically and make payments through approved digital channels, reducing the administrative burden associated with compliance.
GRA will also use data analytics and intelligence-led compliance to identify businesses that meet VAT registration requirements but are operating outside the tax net.
Businesses with annual turnover of at least GH¢750,000 are required to register for VAT, following government’s decision to raise the registration threshold from GH¢200,000.
Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, whose speech was read on his behalf by Technical Advisor-Ministry of Finance Daniel Nuer, said government has undertaken a number of reforms to make the VAT system fairer, simpler and more efficient.
Among the reforms are abolition of the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy, removal of the GETFund and National Health Insurance levies from the VAT base, reduction of the effective VAT rate from 21.9 percent to 20 percent and the increase in VAT registration threshold to GH¢750,000.
Government has also extended VAT zero-rating on locally manufactured textiles to 2028 and abolished VAT on reconnaissance and prospecting activities in the minerals sector.
Further measures expected before end of the year include digital solutions for monitoring VAT on cross-border transactions conducted through platforms owned by non-resident taxpayers.
Government also plans to introduce fiscal electronic devices (FEDs) to improve monitoring of taxable transactions and strengthen compliance among VAT taxpayers.
Another planned intervention is a VAT reward scheme, under which consumers will be encouraged to retain VAT receipts from purchases and participate in a promotion and reward programme.
Consumers as compliance partners
Both officials urged consumers to play a more active role in closing VAT leakages by demanding invoices for every taxable purchase.
Dr. Yamborigya said requesting a receipts ensures that transactions are properly recorded and helps consumers verify that the correct amount of VAT has been charged.
The finance minister said stronger VAT compliance will be essential in achieving government’s target of increasing Ghana’s tax-to-GDP ratio from 13.9 percent to between 18 and 20 percent by 2027.
He also urged businesses to train staff on issuing VAT invoices, ensure their accounting and invoicing systems comply with GRA requirements and encourage customers to request receipts.
The campaign, he said, is ultimately intended to create a tax system that is more transparent, efficient and trusted while improving revenue mobilisation without placing unnecessary administrative burdens on compliant taxpayers.
SOURCE: B&FTIMES
