The 7th African Tax Research Network (ATRN) Congress has begun in Ghana.
The Ghana Revenue Authority is hosting the Congress through the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF).
The African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) hosts the African Tax Research Network (ATRN), a platform of choice for African tax research aimed at facilitating African capacity for credible research in tax policy, administration, law, and leadership.
The ATRN was established to address the need for academics and tax officials from African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) member countries to identify potential synergies and linkage areas.
Reading a speech on behalf of Ken Ofori-Atta the Minister of Finance who was the Guest Speaker, Deputy Minister Abena Osei Asare said admonished the delegates to deliberate on policies and strategies to help the African continent be the one we would all want to see.
In her submission, the Deputy Minister stated that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement is possibly the largest trade bloc with enormous opportunities.
She stated that the AFCTA would create more opportunities because it is a game changer that African countries must seize.
The Deputy Minister cited a World Bank report to back up her claim that the agreement will create the world’s largest free trade zone in terms of the number of countries participating.
She stated that AFCTA connects 1.3 billion people in 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $3.4 trillion.
It has the potential to lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty, but realizing its full potential will require significant investments.
She reiterated the point made by several speakers about the fact that revenue collection will dip in our customs revenue in the short term.
However, we all know that the impact would be the largest, considering the trade amongst ourselves.
”In the medium term, the AFCTA is expected to improve trade, and therefore, will impact positively on our GDP growth.”
”To boost customs revenue mobilisation in the short term, African countries could resort to other revenue-enhancing measures that target domestic taxes. This could be through expanding the tax base by focusing on new streams of domestic tax-related revenue an example is the Digital Service Tax, and I believe you have all heard of the Electronic Transfer, the famous E-Levy Tax. These are new tax areas I believe we should venture into to help us increase our domestic tax revenue.”
She further underscored the need for countries to consider the use of technology and big data analytics.
”In the case of Ghana, the digitization agenda by the current government is a step in the right direction that will provide unified and organized data for analysis by the revenue authorities to help bring in more people unto the platform from the informal sector.”
On his part, Mr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), in his welcome address, said the implementation of the AFCTA will play a critical role in how ”we operate and tax authorities and customs authorities”.
Some of the undertakings he explained would require that the members look at their capacities and skills as revenue authorities.
He advised Network members to consider how they could best collaborate with their respective Ministries of Finance and Trade to find ways to mitigate the revenue losses expected as we reduce import duties.
He stated that AFCTA implementation will necessitate technical skills, advanced processes, and the use of technology in collaboration with competent authorities such as the Ministries of Finance and Trade.
Executive Secretary of ATRN Logan Wort appreciated the GRA for the support to the Network.
He announced that the strategy for the Network for the period between 2021-2025 includes and focuses on customs and trade.
He said the focus of the Network would be to increase custom and trade in the next decade by providing technical assistance to members adding the intention is to use their research capabilities as the basis for all programmes by providing research statistics based support to members
The Congress is Under the Theme Tax and Revenue Implications of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
He stated that there was a need to find new and innovative ways to broaden the tax net in order to improve revenue mobilization.
He went on to say that there was a need to invest in digitization architecture administration, as well as other initiatives that could improve revenue mobilization.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
