Mr Seidu Iddrisu, Commissioner, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has disclosed that Customs exceeded its revenue collection target by 7.95 per cent.
“Nationally, the Customs Division Collected GHC22.26 billion as against a target of GHC20.62 billion, representing a positive deviation of 7.95 percent,” Mr Iddrisu said.
The Commissioner gave the figure at a ceremony for the outgoing Tema Collection Sector Commander, Assistant Commissioner Julius Aweya Kantum as he retires from the service after 37 year’s work life.
He added that the Tema Collection also recorded an excellent performance in its revenue mobilization drive which also exceeded the target by GHC1.25 billion translating to 7.83 percent.
He congratulated all officers, personnel of Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) and other stakeholders of the Customs Division for putting in the effort to rake in the needed revenue for 2022.
Mr Iddrisu said the GRA has set a revenue target of GHC206 billion for this year and out of it, Customs Division is expected to collect GHC28.5 billion.
The Customs Commissioner further said GRA top management has also challenged the Customs Division to collect an additional GHC12 billion for this year.
He therefore called on all to rally around and double their efforts to achieve the target for the year 2023.
The Assistant Commissioner Kantum (Rtd), on his part said it was no secret that when Tema Collection performed very well and exceeds its target by a high percent, it took care of the shortfalls of other collections to ensure that the national target was achieved or exceeded.
He advised the youth to discover themselves in the Customs work by charting their own path, defining their values, and taking cues from the values of the GRA.
He reminded them to always remember that they were tax collectors, and therefore must uphold professionalism, and integrity, while having a learning and innovative mind set which were key to a long and enduring career.