By Eugene Davis
Ghana’s tax authority is preparing to extend its digital reforms from customs into domestic taxation, with a new system for real-time recording of retail transactions expected to reshape Value Added Tax (VAT) administration.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) plans to integrate point-of-sale systems used by businesses into its tax administration infrastructure, allowing transactions to be recorded and transmitted digitally. Commissioner-General Dr Anthony Kwasi Sarpong described the initiative as a potential “game changer” for VAT administration, following the approval of legislative measures to support the integration.
The move marks the next stage of the GRA’s wider push to use technology to improve revenue collection and close gaps in tax compliance. It also comes as the authority reports a sharp increase in customs receipts following the introduction of its artificial intelligence-driven Publican trade valuation platform.
Speaking during a GRA delegation’s visit to the ManhyiaPalace in Kumasi, Dr Sarpong said the full implementation of Publican AI in April had materially increased monthly customs collections.
“Before the implementation, we were collecting about GH¢4 billion a month. As of June, we were collecting GH¢5.5 billion. In the month of July, we collected GH¢6.1 billion, which means that our customs reforms are working,” he said.
Between April and June, the system contributed an additional GH¢1.3 billion to GH¢1.5 billion a month to collections, according to Dr Sarpong. He said the July figure represented a further increase from the GH¢5.5 billion collected in June.
The figures give the GRA a stronger case for extending automation beyond the border. But they also raise a broader question for Ghana’s tax system: whether gains from technology-led enforcement can be replicated in the much larger and more difficult domestic economy, where a significant share of commercial activity remains outside highly formalised reporting systems.
Broadening the tax base
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, welcomed the improvement in revenue mobilisation but urged the GRA to place greater emphasis on the informal economy.
“The focus has always been on workers in the formal sector, while there are many others in the informal sector who can be educated on the need to pay taxes to support national development,” he said.
He recommended that informal operators, including hairdressers, mechanics and drivers, be encouraged to organise themselves into cooperatives or other structured groups. Such arrangements, he argued, could make it easier for the GRA to identify businesses, educate operators about their obligations and bring them into the tax system.
The Asantehene also warned that expanding the tax base would not be enough if existing revenue leakages remained unresolved.
“I have observed an improvement in revenue collection since the current Board and Management took over,” he said. “Despite these gains, some leakages still exist, and I urge you to work at addressing them.”
The comments highlight the two-sided challenge facing Ghana’s revenue authority. Increasing collections requires both bringing more taxpayers into the system and ensuring that revenue already due to the state is not lost through weak controls, under-reporting or other leakages.
From customs to the retail economy
The GRA’s next challenge is therefore more complex than the automation of customs valuation. Border transactions are comparatively easier to identify and control; retail activity is dispersed across thousands of businesses and transactions, many of which are conducted by smaller operators.
The proposed point-of-sale integration is intended to address part of that problem by creating a more direct digital link between commercial transactions and tax administration.
GRA Board Chairman Ricketts Hagan said the authority was continuing to engage stakeholders to make the transition easier for businesses.
“There are new systems, including the Publican AI, which have been helping our efforts. I’m sure you heard noise about not being able to comprehend, but people are beginning to understand the system,” he said.
That adjustment period is likely to be important as the GRA moves from customs into retail taxation. The success of the reforms will depend not only on the technology itself, but also on whether businesses can adopt the systems at reasonable cost and whether taxpayers see the new measures as predictable and transparent rather than simply another layer of enforcement.
The immediate revenue gains from Publican AI have strengthened the case for digitalisation. The harder test will be whether the same approach can produce sustained improvements in domestic tax compliance without pushing smaller businesses further outside the formal economy.
For the GRA, the objective is ultimately larger than increasing monthly collections. A functioning digital tax infrastructure could give the government better visibility over economic activity, reduce opportunities for revenue leakage and make compliance less dependent on manual reporting. But technology can only strengthen the tax system if it is accompanied by credible enforcement, effective taxpayer education and a sufficiently broad tax base.
The shift into VAT administration therefore represents a significant next step in Ghana’s revenue reforms — and a test of whether the gains recorded at the border can be translated into the wider economy.
