The role of tax audit in revenue mobilisation in Ghana Revenue Authority: The case of Ashanti Region

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Date
July, 2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
In most nations, taxation serves as the main source of revenue which governments use for their developmental projects. However, this is not the case in Ghana, the country relies on foreign sources of finance namely foreign loans and aids due to its poor performance in tax administration. To change this system, there is a serious need for revenue administration transformation. For this transformation to function well an efficient and effective tax audit unit may be needed to enable the government to keep up with the increasing complexity of business activities and tax evasion schemes. The main objective of the study is to know the role that tax audit practice plays in tax administration in the Ashanti Region and to provide concrete suggestions to its sustenance in Ghana based on the case study. The research approaches used were both qualitative and quantitative case study approaches. Sixty Auditing staff from all the offices of Ashanti Region of the Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD) of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) acted as a case in the study. The quantitative study involved primary data collection through a field survey and secondary data collection from the DTRD of the GRA. And the qualitative research method was considered as a means of gaining access to unquantifiable facts. The result of the study showed that all the respondents admitted Tax Audit is very essential in improving revenue generation and has a most important part to play in tax administration in Ghana. Even though the employees in the Tax Audit unit have the necessary skills which enable them to perform their duties and responsibilities, it is recommended that there must be adequate short term and refresher training to keep them abreast with current trends of auditing and investigations and also the numerous amendments to the tax laws. In conclusion, an improved and well-equipped Tax Audit unit can aid the nation in her pursuit to be self- sufficient in domestic revenue generation through taxation.
Description
A Thesis submitted to the Department of Accounting and Finance, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration (Accounting Option)
Keywords
Citation