Effective July 1, all taxes and duties on shipments shall be paid directly into the bank accounts of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) through cashless means, such as bank transfers, mobile money, Swift or other electronic channels, with GRA officers banned from receiving cash payments, a circular from the nation’s tax collector has said.

According to the circular, the GRA will also stop accepting personal and corporate cheques for payment of taxes and custom duties from June this year, whilst domestic tax payments are also set to go fully digital.

In line with the directive, existing cheques that have been received already for the payment of taxes and duties will be processed, but no new cheques will be accepted after the stipulated date, the circular added.

The circular to staff of the GRA, signed by its Commissioner-General, Ammisshaddai Owusu-Amoah, explained that the move formed part of efforts to bring convenience to the payment of duties and taxes to enhance revenue mobilization.

“These milestones have been set in view of GRA’s efforts to enhance revenue mobilization and the drive towards ease of payments for taxpayers through a cashless system of operation,” the circular said.

It added: “Where it becomes necessary for cheques to be issued for payments that are spread over a number of months, such cheques must be supported by a bank guarantee.”

Domestic tax payments by various methods through the ghana.gov platform and all participating banks will also commence on May 1.

These new steps by the GRA are the latest action from government to improve the ease and cost of doing business whilst blocking avenues for revenue leakage at the country’s ports.

Previous interventions have seen the introduction of the paperless port regime and implementation of the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS), which is an end-to-end technology for customs valuation and trade facilitation.