Accra: Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim, the Minister of Local Government, Religious and Chieftaincy Affairs, has announced the government's decision to abolish the centralized collection of property tax by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). This move reaffirms the government's commitment to fiscal decentralization and aims to empower Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
According to Ghana News Agency, the announcement was made during Mr. Ibrahim's keynote address at the Urban Property Tax Workshop. The workshop was organized by the Africa Cities Research Consortium in collaboration with People's Dialogue on Human Rights Settlement and Local Government Network (LOGNET). It brings together city managers, policymakers, and international experts to strategize on improving property tax systems in Ghana and across Africa.
The key focus areas of the workshop include adopting digital tools for efficient tax administration, enhancing local capacity for revenue mobilization, and ensuring taxpayer confidence through visible service delivery. The Minister emphasized that the centralization of property tax collections had deprived MMDAs of significant Internally Generated Funds (IGF), which in turn affected the delivery of essential services at the local level.
The Minister clarified that the centralized collection undermined the fiscal policy measures intended to decentralize the assemblies. He stated, "The President has been emphatic, we are not going to centralize property rate collection. The suspension of the GRA's vendor arrangement in the 2023 budget was just the beginning. We are now fully returning this responsibility to the MMDAs to enhance their revenue mobilization and service delivery."
Additionally, the government plans to introduce measures to promote fiscal decentralization, including reintroducing municipal bonds and enacting a Local Government Borrowing Act. This legislation would enable MMDAs to access capital markets for development projects. Mr. Ibrahim urged institutional collaboration between the Land Valuation Division, local government authorities, and the private sector to address challenges related to updated land valuation.
He encouraged stakeholders to utilize the workshop to share best practices, explore digital solutions for property tax administration, and improve compliance through transparency and citizen engagement. The Minister also highlighted the ministry's partnership with ACRC in producing the Accra City Foundation Report, which identified key reform areas in urban governance, including land and property taxation.
