GRA pilots digital tool to capture taxes from online businesses
Acting Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, has disclosed that the Authority is piloting a new digital economy tool aimed at improving tax collection from online and cross-border digital transactions.
Speaking at the KPMG 2026 Post-Budget Forum in Accra on Monday, under the theme “Resetting for Growth, Jobs and Economic Transformation,” Mr Sarpong said the initiative seeks to ensure Ghana derives its fair share of revenue from the rapidly expanding online business landscape.
“We are at the moment piloting what we call the digital economy tool because online businesses are growing. There are businesses outside the country selling a lot in Ghana, but we do not get the benefit of the VAT,” he said.
The tool is being developed in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana and the financial intermediation system, and will allow taxes to be automatically deducted at the point of payment — a mechanism designed to plug leakages and ensure effective VAT collection on digital transactions.
Mr Sarpong referenced global models, including companies such as Amazon, to demonstrate how automated tax mechanisms help governments secure revenue from multinational digital platforms.
He stressed that the focus of government reforms is not the introduction of new taxes, but rather enhancing the efficiency of existing tax structures.
“Government action is really not to introduce new taxes; it is to create efficiencies in the way we employ the existing taxes. In that way, we believe we can generate a lot more revenue,” he noted.
The GRA believes the initiative will strengthen domestic revenue mobilisation at a time when e-commerce and digital services continue to grow as an integral part of Ghana’s economy.
