20 out of 24 banks in Ghana paid GRA GH¢1.6 billion as corporate tax in 2019

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Twenty (20) out of the twenty (24) banks licensed in Ghana by Bank of Ghana in 2019 paid a total direct tax of GH¢1.6 billion which also include the five percent national fiscal stabilization levy to Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) the agency mandated by law to assess collect and account for tax revenue on behalf of the Ghana of government.

This GH¢1.6 billion represents growth of twenty-four percent (24%) from the 2018 direct tax of GH¢1.3 billion paid to the same agency.

These tax figures were stated in the published audited financial report of the banks. The other four banks namely First Atlantic Bank Limited, GHL Bank Limited, National Investment Bank Limited, OmniBSIC Bank Ghana Limited had not published their 2019 audited reports therefore were excluded from the analysis.

In 2019, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) collected a total tax revenue of GH¢43.9 billion as compare to GH¢37.7 billion collected in 2018 representing an increase or growth of 16.6 percent.

Domestic tax which include taxes such as corporate tax and national stabilisation levy which were the taxes these 20 banks paid contributed GH¢31.9 billion and GH¢24.5 billion respectively in 2019 and 2018 to the total tax revenue collected representing a growth of 30.4 percent.

The GH¢1.6 billion paid in 2019 by these 20 banks represent 3.7 percent of the total tax revenue collected in 2019 by Ghana Revenue Authority and 4.3 percent of the total domestic tax revenue collected in the same year while the GH¢1.3 billion paid in 2018 by these same 20 banks represent 4.1 and 5.3 percent of the total tax revenue and the total domestic tax revenue respectively.

The 24 percent increase in the tax paid by these 20 banks in 2019 was as a result of the over 40 percent increase in their profit which will be discussed in another article written by the same author.

Five out of the twenty banks in both 2018 and 2019 contributed 56 percent of the total GH¢1.3 billion and GH¢1.6 billion tax paid to GRA respectively with (Standard Chartered bank, Absa bank, Ecobank, Stanbic Bank and GCB bank) taking the top five spot in 2018 while in 2019, (Ecobank, Absa bank, GCB bank, Zenith bank and Standard Chartered Bank in the top five).

The Author, Joshua Bosoka, is a results-driven Finance and Accounting Expert offering over ten (10) years of success in leading financial, accounting and auditing management activities at different industries and organisations both local and international.

He is a certified chartered accountant and a member of ACCA and ICAG. MSc in Professional Accountancy from University of London and member of other professional organisations.