… as former Finance Minister warns reforms alone are not enough
By Joshua AMLANU & Ebenezer NJOKU
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is stepping up its deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to plug persistent tax revenue leakages, as the nation seeks to build a more efficient and transparent fiscal system. This renewed focus on digital tools comes amid broader national conversations about the effectiveness of technology in revenue assurance.
Speaking at a National Dialogue on Tax Revenue Leakages hosted by the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), GRA Deputy Commissioner Elsie Appau-Klu said the Authority is integrating AI and ML solutions to enhance real-time data analysis across multiple sectors, including banking, telecommunications, customs, and the utilities.
“These technologies are being used to identify anomalies in tax filings, expose suspicious trade activities, and trigger targeted audits. We are leveraging innovation to prevent losses and recover unpaid taxes more efficiently,” she explained.
The event, however, unfolded against the backdrop of a wider debate on the use of technology in tax administration—particularly the role of Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML), an indigenous firm specialising in revenue assurance and audit technologies.
SML recently marked five years of collaboration with the GRA, having evolved from a subcontractor handling transaction audits on imported goods to a national partner providing real-time monitoring in the downstream petroleum sector.
Dr. Yaa Serwaa Sarpong, Director of Support Services at SML Ghana, shared insights into the company’s contributions. “Our centralised monitoring platform, which links data from the GRA, National Petroleum Authority (NPA), and depot operators, has dramatically improved transparency in fuel volume reporting,” she said.
Prior to SML’s involvement, reported monthly fuel volumes averaged just 208 million litres—far below the actual lifting volumes. Today, that figure has more than doubled to 450 million litres per month.
Between May 2020 and December 2024, the total volume of previously unreported fuel captured by SML’s systems reached 14.1 billion litres, translating into more than GH¢20 billion in additional tax revenue.
Dr. Sarpong noted that SML is now preparing to expand its audit and assurance solutions to cover upstream petroleum and mineral resources.
Despite these advances, former Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam cautioned that digitisation alone will not solve Ghana’s longstanding revenue challenges.
“We have introduced over 20 tax software solutions and countless reforms, but our tax system continues to underperform,” he stated. “Revenue growth is not keeping pace with economic expansion. The real issue lies in weak enforcement and inefficient administration,” he added.
Dr. Adam compared the tax regime to a leaking pipe: “You cannot just increase tax rates or add more levies without fixing the system. The logical solution is to stop the leaks so that what flows in reaches its destination.”
He cited a 2022 compliance audit that revealed only 39 percent of potential VAT revenue was collected, while corporate income tax compliance lagged at 18.5 percent. The country’s tax-to-GDP ratio remains stuck around 14 percent—well below the Sub-Saharan African average of 16 percent and the OECD average of 30 percent.
The GRA’s renewed digital strategy includes close collaboration with the Financial Intelligence Centre, Bank of Ghana, and other state institutions to track financial transactions, capital flows, and illicit activities, including cryptocurrency movements.
Enhanced customs intelligence, automated post-clearance audits, and tighter port surveillance are part of the plan to curb smuggling and trade-based tax evasion.
Still, Dr. Adam warned of structural constraints. “Even with these interventions, the current size and structure of domestic revenue are insufficient to finance our recurring expenditure,” he said, adding that dwindling donor support and post-debt-restructuring challenges make domestic resource mobilisation even more critical.
He also called for comprehensive reforms in the extractive sector’s fiscal regime, including windfall tax mechanisms and stricter oversight of multinational corporations engaged in aggressive tax planning, such as transfer pricing and debt loading—areas that advanced AI systems may be able to address.
“Our revenue sources are still woefully inadequate. If we do not fix the system, we risk jeopardising our national development ambitions,” Dr. Adam further stated.
GRA board member and Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu assured participants that policy insights from the dialogue would feed into future reforms. “This conversation is timely. It helps us sharpen the tools we are using and question the assumptions we have made,” he said.
