Total direct taxes collected as of July this year increased by 26.8 per cent year-on-year to GH¢1,466.34 million in May 2021, relative to GH¢1,156.19 million recorded in a similar period in 2020, the latest Bank of Ghana Monetary Policy Real Sector
Development report on the economy, has said.
It said cumulatively, total direct taxes collected for the first five months of 2021 went up by 32.0 per cent to GH¢8,993.23 million.
“In terms of contributions of the various sub-tax categories, income tax accounted for 56.3 per cent, corporate tax accounted for 31.7 per cent, while other tax sources, contributed 12.0 per cent,” the BoG July, 2021 report, said.
It said, the total private sector workers’ contribution to the SSNIT Pension Scheme (Tier-1) increased by 3.9 per cent in year-on-year terms to GH¢205.14 million in May 2021, from the GH¢197.37 million collected during the corresponding period in 2020.
On private sector pension contributors, the report said the total number of private sector SSNIT contributors, which partially gauges employment conditions, improved to 804,849 (up by 15.4 per cent year-on-year) in May 2021 compared with 697,690 for the same period in 2020.
“Cumulatively, for the first five months of 2021, the total number of private sector contributors increased by 3.8 per cent to 4,087,134 from 3,937,022 recorded over the corresponding period in 2020,” the report, said.
It said the consumption of electricity by industries went up by 49.0 per cent on a year-on-year basis as of July this year in spite of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on businesses.
The report indicated that industries consumed 266.25 gigawatts of power in May 2021, as against 178.64 gigawatts recorded for the corresponding period in 2020.
“In cumulative terms, electricity consumption by industries for the first five months of 2021 increased by 14.0 per cent to 1,276.70 gigawatts from 1,119.93 gigawatts for the corresponding period a year ago,” the BoG, said.
The report said the improvement in power consumption was mainly due to increased industrial activity by manufacturing companies during the period under the review.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
