President Akufo-Addo has announced that by April this year all national ID numbers will become tax identification numbers.
This is expected to increase the number of people registered by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for tax purposes from the current three million to 15.5 million
Delivering the State of the Nation Address on Tuesday, President Akufo-Addo said “for the first time, we have enrolled 15.5 million people onto the National ID card system (the Ghanacard), and we will complete the process this year.
“From 1 April, and this is not an April Fool’s prank, all National ID numbers will become Tax Identification Numbers. In so doing, the number of people registered by GRA for tax purposes will increase from the current three million to 15.5 million.
He added “Similarly, from the second quarter of this year, all national ID numbers will also become SSNIT numbers. This will increase the number of people on the SSNIT database from four million to 15.5 million.
“The National ID numbers will also become NHIS numbers. Very soon we will link the National ID to all SIM cards, bank accounts, Births and Death Registry, DVLA, and passports.
“I should recall that at the end of 2016, only 750,000 people had TIN numbers. The increase to 15.5 million in just four years is simply phenomenal.”
President Akufo-Addo said for the first time, through the implementation of the digital property addressing system, every location in Ghana has a digital address.
“The process of affixing unique property address plates for some 7.5 million properties in all 16 regions has also started,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo said, for the first time in Ghana, more than 70% of the population has access to financial services either through a bank account or a mobile money account.
“We have been able to do so through the implementation of mobile money interoperability (between bank accounts and mobile wallets), with Ghana as the first and only country in Africa to have done so,” he added.
