Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, Minister of Local Government, Religious and Chieftaincy Affairs, has announced the government’s decision to abolish the centralised collection of property tax by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
He said the decision reaffirmed the government’s commitment to fiscal decentralisation and empowering Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
The Minister made the announcement in his keynote address at the Urban Property Tax Workshop, organised by the Africa Cities Research Consortium in collaboration with the People’s Dialogue on Human Rights Settlement and Local Government Network (LOGNET).
The three-day workshop brings together city managers, policymakers, and international experts to strategise on improving property tax systems in Ghana and across Africa.
Key focus areas include adopting digital tools for efficient tax administration, enhancing local capacity for revenue mobilisation, and ensuring taxpayer confidence through visible service delivery.
The Minister stated that the centralisation of key revenue items for the assemblies, such as property tax, had denied them significant Internally Generated Funds (IGF), thus affecting the delivery of essential services to local areas.
This centralised collection of property tax, according to the Minister, undermined the decentralisation of fiscal policy measures for the assemblies.
“The President has been emphatic: we are not going to centralise 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 mobilisation and service delivery,” he said.
The Minister announced the government’s plans to ensure and promote fiscal decentralisation, including proposals to reintroduce municipal bonds and enact a Local Government Borrowing Act to enable MMDAs to access capital markets for development projects.
Mr Ibrahim called for institutional collaboration between the Land Valuation Division, local government authorities, and the private sector to address challenges with the updated land valuation.
He urged stakeholders to leverage 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 the ACRC in producing the Accra City Foundation Report, which identified key reform areas in urban governance, including land and property taxation.
