The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, has revealed that cryptocurrency traders in Ghana will soon be brought into the tax net as the Authority readies new digital systems to track gains from crypto transactions.
He explained that cryptocurrency is rapidly evolving and generating income for traders, making it necessary for tax laws to be enforced.
“Our laws are coming up. So again, we are working with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Bank of Ghana to bring the regulation. But in terms of tax laws, one, the tax law is still not a new one. If you make a profit or gain, you’re supposed to pay that,” Mr. Sarpong told Joy News.
He emphasized that GRA’s upcoming technology will enable it to monitor crypto accounts and ensure compliance.
“So today, the technology we are going to deploy will be able to bring in all the crypto accounts into focus, and then we will work with these individuals to make sure that we bring them into the tax net,” he explained.
Mr. Sarpong further stressed that the broader objective is to align Ghana’s tax system with the growing digital economy.
“Digitisation and digital economy are here with us and into the future, and most importantly, even the taxpayer of the future is digital. And that’s why we as GRA are preparing ourselves to be digitally ready for today and into the future,” he added.
According to him, the initiative goes beyond crypto, extending to online businesses where VAT will be captured at the point of payment.
“So what we are doing is to use the technology so that when people buy online, we can access the VAT and the tax at the point of payment, so that this today’s challenge of not finding them to come and follow, or not even knowing what they have done online, will be a thing of the past,” Mr. Sarpong stated.
He disclosed that the technology would be piloted by September and scaled up by the end of the year, stressing that this aligns with government’s policy of enforcing existing tax laws rather than introducing new ones.
