The Executive Director of Green Tax Youth Africa, Benaiah Nii Addo, has sounded the alarm over Ghana’s real estate sector becoming a conduit for Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs), with buyers using large sums of untraceable cash to acquire properties while bypassing the banking system and tax regulations.
Illicit Financial Flows are illegal movements of money or capital from one country to another, often to evade taxes, launder money, or hide wealth.
It can involve criminal activities such as drug trafficking, smuggling and trade mis-invoicing.
He has warned that weak enforcement and regulatory gaps were enabling money laundering and depriving the country of critical revenue.
Speaking at a two-day capacity-building workshop for journalists on IFFs and progressive taxation, Mr Addo highlighted the failure to enforce existing financial policies, particularly in real estate, multinational retail operations, and the informal economy, stressing that these loopholes were fueling economic losses.
He highlighted glaring gaps in enforcement and regulatory oversight, particularly within sectors such as real estate, multinational retail operations, and the informal economy.
Again, he called on the government to urgently regulate property transactions to enhance transparency and accountability, while also strengthening the country’s tax administration and enforcement
mechanisms.
Mr Addo criticised multinational companies operating in Ghana for tax evasion and the unchecked repatriation of profits.
“These companies often repatriate all their profits without paying taxes, like the shell companies. Their only interest is making profits,” he stressed.
He further pointed to the misuse of tax incentives under the banner of corporate social responsibility (CSR), calling for a regulatory framework to evaluate CSR projects. “CSR is voluntary and largely unregulated in Ghana. While companies claim to support local communities, there is no framework to monitor or evaluate these projects,” he noted.
“We must ensure that CSR initiatives are aligned with the tax exemptions companies enjoy,” he added.
Mr Addo also praised Ghana’s digital financial ecosystem—especially within the public sector where electronic salary payments are now standard—but said enforcement must extend to private enterprises.
He recommended standardised digital receipts and stricter monitoring for multinational supermarkets and retail chains to help track taxable sales.
Touching on the informal economy, he stressed the need to simplify online tax filing systems in order to boost compliance.
“People have smartphones but don’t know how to use them to file taxes. That’s a problem.”
“We need to bring tax education to the markets—to the traders and informal workers. Equipping them with knowledge is key,” he explained.
Mr Addo argued that fairness and accountability were vital to increasing tax compliance.
“People want to see their taxes at work—building roads, markets, schools, and hospitals,” he said.
“When citizens see the results, they are more willing to pay.”
He endorsed a progressive tax system where the wealthy pay more than the poor, stating, “Many people want to comply, but when the system appears skewed in favour of the rich, it becomes a disincentive.”
Mr Addo also called for the effective use of funds generated from the Communication Service Tax (CST) to create jobs.
“This tax was supposed to create employment. Government must ensure the funds are used to generate jobs so more people are brought in,” he indicated.
FROM KINGSLEY E. HOPE
