AN ASSESSMENT OF TAX REFORMS AND ITS IMPACT ON INVESTMENT DECISIONS IN GHANA

ABSTRACT: This study was carried out on impact tax reforms on investment decisions in Ghana using  Ghana Revenue Authority koforidua Branch as case study. To achieve this 4 research questions were formulated.  The survey design was adopted and the simple random sampling techniques were employed in this study. The population size comprise of all the staff  of  Ghana Revenue Authority koforidua Branch. In determining the sample size, the researcher conveniently selected 30 respondents while all were validated. Self-constructed and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected and validated questionnaires were analyzed using frequency tables and percentage. The result of the findings reveals that there are numerous  rationales behind tax reforms among them are; to improve the efficiency of tax administration, to maximize the economic and social benefits of  tax collection, to enhance the efficiency of the overall tax system, to reduce tax evasion and avoidance, to allow more efficient and fair tax collection, and to widens out the tax base, and it was also revealed that the complex tax structure, high rate of tax evasion, inadequate logistics, tax adjudication imbalances, low skill levels of staff, and slow take-off of the automation and computerisation of the customs management system are all different problems compounding the act of tax reform in Ghana. More so, the findings shows that tax reliefs, investment tax credits incentives, tax exemptions, tax holidays and tax rate reductions are among few others the forms of tax incentives that are used in attracting foreign direct investment. And conclusively, tax rate concepts should be used to examine the effect of tax reform on investment. In regard to the findings, the study recommends that the relevant authorities in Ghana Revenue Authority should ensure that its staff are adequately trained periodically, this will help to them step up their games and ensure effective tax administration, setting up a dependable and highly reliable tax administration machinery which will ensure operation efficiency hard work and loyalty amongst the personnel of the service. And setting up a good computerized information and storage network to enable information to be processed promptly and accurately. This will also reduce evasion and avoidance tax.