The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed numerous Municipal and District Assemblies to adjust to the provisions of the Revenue Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896).
This legislation requires withholding brokers to remit withheld taxes to the Commissioner-Basic of the Ghana Income Authority (GRA) inside 15 days after the tip of every calendar month.
Withholding tax is a compulsory deduction made on the supply by withholding brokers when making funds to different events, which is then forwarded to the GRA.
Nonetheless, the Auditor-Basic’s report highlighted that a number of Assemblies, together with the Atwima Nwabiagya North District, Amansie West District, Bosome Freho District, Banda District, and Wenchi Municipal Meeting, have didn’t adjust to these authorized necessities.
This subject was dropped at gentle throughout the second day of PAC’s hearings in Sunyani, the place the committee reviewed the Auditor-Basic’s Report on the Administration and Utilisation of the District Assemblies Widespread Fund and different Statutory Funds for the yr ending December 31, 2023.
The committee expressed issues that failing to remit taxes on time may have an effect on the fee of salaries and allowances.
PAC urged the assemblies to keep away from unlawful practices and to set lifelike targets whereas adhering to their budgets.
The committee added that some Assemblies’ Internally Generated Funds (IGF) are inadequate to help ongoing initiatives, resulting in delays or abandonment.
These incomplete initiatives, known as “legacy initiatives,” lead to elevated prices and negatively influence native communities.
The committee additionally expressed concern about accomplished initiatives that stay unused by the assemblies.
Moreover, PAC appealed to the Free SHS Secretariat to launch funds to Senior Excessive Colleges (SHS) to facilitate their operations.
A number of college heads shared their frustrations throughout the assembly, revealing that since February 2024, they’ve solely acquired GH¢9,000 for recurrent expenditure, with no extra funds offered since.