ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Takoradi Abattoir

In Ghana, conditions in existing slaughter houses and current meat-handling practices contribute immensely to the spread of Zoonotic diseases. Slaughtering is done in our slaughter houses with its poor sanitation levels and unskilled staff. Under such conditions contamination frequently occurs from dirt, unclean water, intestinal contents or from dirty knives, hands or clothing of the workers. These factors all result in infection of the meat, bacteria multiplication and possible toxin production. A general lack of clean water and refrigeration facilities in the hot, humid conditions prevalent in this region, the presence of flies and unhygienic marketing practices amongst other numerous unhygienic factors contribute immensely to the danger of consumer infection. In Sekondi-Takoradi the picture is no different as such there is the urgent need for an intervention to be made to salvage the situation. A design intervention in the form of a modem abattoir with simple, appropriate technology would result in hygienic slaughtering and handling of meat thereby preventing the spread of meat borne disease in both humans and animals whilst ensuring that only disease-free meat and meat products reach the markets as well as employing prudent measures to protect the environment from waste generated in the abattoir.

Source: KNUST
Tamale International Airport (TML)

The aviation statistics of Ghana in terms of Passenger throughput capacity reveals an average growth of 10% for the past 5 years. Aviation statistical projection up to 2013 by GCAA Corporate Planning reveals the following data 2010 - 1 348 829, 2011 - 1 483 767, 2012 - 1 632 144, 2013 - 1 795 359. With an annual growth of 10% Ghana is expected to be receiving about 3million passengers per annum by 2020 and about 6million passengers by 2030. Kotoka International airport stands as the only International airport for both short and long haul international flights. KIA currently has a capacity of 1 260 passengers per annum. Plans are underway to rehabilitate KIA to be able to handle 2million passengers by 2020. This implies beyond 2020 there will be passenger excess to be catered for and hence the need for a new international airport in Ghana. Tamale was considered to be the next location for Ghana's next international airport. The idea is to create a catalyst that will help bridge the developmental gap between the down- south and up-north of Ghana. After a careful consideration of the clients brief and intentions, case studies, site analysis and technical studies a brief was developed. The brief took into careful consideration Standards and Recommended Practices of ICAO Annexes, ICAN and FAA recommendations. A design proposal from master planning to detailed design was formulated based on the brief. The project further details the services and construction technology and phasing of project and finally presets conclusions on the way forward in helping realize Ghana's aviation dreams.

Source: KNUST
Targeting and scaling up of Agricultural water management interventions in the White Volta Basin, Ghana

The Upper West Region (UWR) of Ghana covers a geographical area of 18,476km2. Out of this, an estimated area of 12,933.2km2 representing 70% is arable with about 80% of the populace engaged in agriculture. Majority of these people are small-scale farmers who depend mainly on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihood. However, the area falls within the semi-arid region of Ghana which is characterised by viable and uni-model (April-September) rainfall pattern. These conditions have therefore become the major sources of risk in the agricultural enterprise. These conditions.............................................

Source: KNUST
Tax administration in the kumasi metropolis (A Case Study of Ghana Revenue Authority, Suame Branch)

The objective of the study was to identify the problems that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) faced in the administration of tax. Specifically the study aimed at ascertaining whether the set targets for tax collection are attained, finding out why the people in Suame Magazine evade taxes and finally identifying the challenges faced in the administration of tax in Suame Magazine, Kumasi. The researcher solicited for the views of taxpayers and management staff concerning tax administration. A case study was chosen for this study. The researcher administered the questionnaires and conducted interviews personally. The sample for the study were 53 employees comprising of 50 taxpayers and 3 management staff drawn from GRA, Suame branch.. It was also revealed by the study that no trust in government, high rate charged, unfair treatment of organizations by tax administrators, low level of knowledge on tax by tax payer, weakness in the laws against tax evaders, poor attitudes of tax collector towards tax payer, unskilled manpower / personnel to collect the tax, and poor monitoring were reasons why some taxpayers evade tax. The study also identified that low registration rate of taxpayers, lack of efficient tax administration, inadequate resources to sustain and facilitate the operations of tax authorities, inadequate modern technology, and poor remuneration of tax administrators by management of GRA were identified as challenges to effective tax administration. The study made recommendations to help improve tax administration.

Source: KNUST
Targeting and scaling up of Agricultural water management interventions in the White Volta Basin, Ghana

The White Volta Basin (WVB) is one of the four main sub-basins of the Volta River System located in the semi-arid and sub-humid zones of West Africa. The majority of the population in the basin are small scale farmers who rely on rain fed agriculture for their livelihood. Since agricultural practice is dependent on the uni-modal nature of rainfall, farmers suffer significant loss when the rain falls. This has resulted in the introduction and development of different Agricultural water management interventions (AWMI) in the area..................................................................

Source: KNUST
Tax compliance in ghana: an examination of taxpayers' compliance decision by their perceptions

This study set out to examine tax compliance in Ghana: an examination of taxpayers' compliance decision by their perceptions. The study employed a quantitative research design to conduct the study. the study used mainly primary data by deploying structured questionnaire through google for. The analysis of the data was conducted with the help of IBM SPSS Statistics V.26 and Microsoft Excel and Amos v.23. The study employed Structural equation modelling to analyse the various objectives. The study revealed that, there is a significant positive of detection on tax compliance among SMEs within the Bolgatanga municipality. Also, there a positive but insignificant effect of government spending on tax compliance among SMES within the Bolgatanga municipality. Lastly, there is a positive and significant effect of tax fairness on tax compliance among SMEs in the Bolgatanga municipality. The study recommended that the tax authorities should endeavour to put in place measure to enhance detection of tax evasion among SMEs, which will help in compliance among these SMEs, since they know that, they will be found out when they evade taxes. Also, although government spending does not seem to affect tax compliance, government should be transparent on how it spends the tax collected to engender more confidence in these SMEs to comply with their tax returns. Lastly, the tax authorities should make an effort to be fair as much as possible to generate the need support among these SMEs to enable them have trust in the tax administration which will go a long way to enhance tax compliance among these SMEs.

Source: KNUST
Tax compliance amongst small and medium scale enterprises in the central business district Accra

The main aim of this study was to examine the level of tax compliance amongst SMEs in the central business district of Accra. The study was based on three main objectives; to explore the influence of tax awareness on voluntary tax compliance decision of tax payers; to ascertain the level of tax compliance of SMEs in Central Business District Accra; and to know the Profit Element amongst SMEs whether they should pay tax. The study was conducted amongst SMEs in the central business district in Accra. A descriptive survey technique was used for the study. The sample size for the study was three hundred and fifty-three (353) out of a population of three thousand (3000) registered SMEs in the central business district of Accra. Structured questionnaires adopted to gather primary data from the respondents. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study found that there was moderate level of influence of tax awareness on the on the voluntary tax compliance decisions of SMEs in the central business district of Accra. Again, was high level of tax compliance amongst SMEs in the central business district of Accra and the average, and the average profit of SMEs in the central business district of Accra was up to GHc 10,000. There were some recommendations to the effects that GRA officials should improve on the tax education for SMEs and organize such educational campaigns at least once a year for all SMEs in Ghana. This will go a long way to increase the tax awareness of SMEs in Ghana which may result in payment of more taxes hence generation of more revenues for the country. Again, the language used in the tax laws should be simplified to enable most of the SME owners to understand and appreciate the content of the law. Future research can be conducted in the area of tax compliance amongst petty traders (table top traders) in the Greater Accra Region. These categories of traders have not registered their business but still pay their taxes through the metropolitan assemblies.

Source: KNUST
Tax evasion and avoidance among small and medium sized enterprises in effiduase, ashanti region

This research study was undertaken to examine Tax evasion and avoidance among small and medium sized enterprises in Effiduase, Sekyere – East District of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The design of this research work was a case study one and the approach adopted was the mixed methodology incorporating both qualitative and quantitative questions based on the research objectives. The sampling procedure that was used for the study was a probability sampling while the technique used for a combination of purposive and convenience sampling. due to the interview guide developed. The population for the study was 349 comprising all small and medium size businesses within the study area. The sample size used for the study was 126 SMEs business owners. The study used both primary and secondary data and tools for data collection was were relied upon and used for this study. The main tools for the collection of data was an interview guide and a structured questionnaire. Nvivo software was used to analysed the responses obtained from the interview while SPSS version 27 was used for the responses obtained via the structured questionnaire. Three study objectives were formulated for the study which were firstly, to examine awareness and measures on tax commitment, secondly, the evaluations used for tax payments and lastly, challenges in the tax administration regime. Findings from the study shows, the practice of tax evasion and avoidance among SMEs within the under-studied district is very prevalent and widespread. Also, it is imperative for officials at Ghana revenue authority to constantly and consistently review and monitor the strategies they deploy to get business owners to honestly and without compulsion honour their tax obligations. Some key recommendations made to support the study were; active promotion of citizen participation and tax education on avoidance and evasion as well as strengthening the punitive regime for public officials who aid and abet in tax evasion.

Source: KNUST
Tax evasion in the informal sector in the Kumasi Metropolis

This study focused on tax evasion in the informal sector of Ghana. Specifically, it addresses the taxpayer’s understanding of the tax system, the causes of tax evasion and factors that militate against effective tax collection. Questionnaires were therefore administered to the people engaged in informal sector activities in selected markets in the Kumasi metropolis. A total of 200 sample respondents which consists of 65 sellers from Central market, 40 sellers from Suame market, 20 sellers from Bantama market, 30 sellers from Asafo market, 10 sellers from Atonsu market and 35 sellers from the Kejetia market were selected by a two-stage cluster sampling method. In the first stage, the clusters selected were Central market, Suame market, Bantama market, Asafo market, Atonsu market and Kejetia market. In the second stage, convenience sampling was then used separately to select the needed sample from each cluster. Interview guide was also used to elicit information from one of the district heads of Ghana Revenue Authority in Kumasi. The study revealed that the majority of the populace engaged in the informal sector business has a fair knowledge of the tax system in Ghana. It came out that the majority of the respondents were unaware of any tax apart from income tax. Respondents indicated that high tax rate, mismanagement of tax revenues and inflation are some of the causes of tax evasion. The study revealed that there is no formalized system to identify, assess and collect tax from each taxpayer. It was also revealed that relocation of traders makes it difficult to trace and assess them as expected. It is therefore recommended that people who engage in the informal sector activities be educated on Ghana’s tax system. It is also recommended that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) should formalize the tax collection system by registering and educating them, particularly through the use of a public address system on a routine basis to enhance compliance. GRA should liaise with the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly to provide statistics of all registered traders within the informal sector in the Kumasi Metropolis and encourage unregistered traders in the sector to do so.

Source: KNUST
Tax evasion in the informal sector of the Ghanaian economy: a case study of the new Juaben south municipality

This research seeks to investigate the evasion of taxes by the informal sector within the Ghanaian economy through the assessment of the levels of tax evasion; the examination of the contributing factors to tax evasion; the determination of the challenges faced in the effective mobilization of revenue and as well as the evaluation of the elements of dealing with tax evasion among the informal sector using the New Juaben South Municipality as the case study. Results of analysis of data through descriptive explanatory approach coupled with the administration of structured questionnaires to eighty (80) respondents shows the existence of tax evasion among the informal sector of the economy based indulging in four (4) major tax evasion activities. Also, twelve (12) contributing determinants of tax evasion among the informal sector were revealed with eight (8) socio-economic benefits of tax evasion among the informal sector. The study concludes that, the relationship is attributable to only the determinants of tax evasion and as a result recommends for policy and stakeholder consideration the inclusion of other variables in the proposed model to help unravel completely the act of evasion of taxes by the informal sector.

Source: KNUST
Tax Non-Compliance in the Informal Sector: A Case of Small-And-Medium-Scaled Enterprises at Suame Magazine in the Kumasi Metropolis

Tax non-compliance remains a predicament that needs to be tackled especially within the large zones of small businesses. From the behavioral theoretical perspective, this study was carried out to find out how and why small business tax payers at the Suame Magazine do or not comply with the tax laws applicable to small and medium scaled enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana. The study employed a purposive sampling technique to draw out 200 SMEs from Suame Magazine for questionnaires administration and 3 top officials of Suame Small Taxpayers‘ Office for semi-structured interviews. By subjecting the data to descriptive statistical, Spearman correlation and probit regression analyses, it was found that the taxpayers are likely to submit their tax returns late and pay their taxes after due dates, along with the observation that close to half of the study subjects have not yet registered their businesses. From the taxpayer‘s perspective, tax non-compliance is likely to occur if the tax payer is non-religious person and if the tax payer considers detection probability to be high while the perception of high compliance costs and tax knowledge increase non-compliance probability. Moreover, from the tax administrator‘s viewpoint, the compliance is likely to increase if prosecution is likely while non-compliance is most likely to happen if the tax payer sees no direct benefit accruing to him/her and if the level of his/her understanding of the need to pay is missing. The study recommended that the Tax Authorities should enter into close partnership with the police and religious leaders to improve detection of non-compliance rates and tax morale respectively. Further studies to extend this to cover larger sample and wider geographical spread were also recommended.

Source: KNUST
Taxation of landed property transactions as a potential for revenue mobilization towards national development: prospects and challenges

All governments the world over function on revenue raised from taxes. Taxes are therefore important to the existence and prosperity of a nation. Among the form of taxes are a group of taxes which are collectively termed as landed property transaction taxes. Over the years, revenues from these taxes have failed to meet their collection targets and also failed to make any significant contribution to total tax revenue in Ghana. It was on the basis of this that this study was undertaken to unravel the potentials and challenges that exist in the assessment and collection of these taxes in the country using Kumasi as the test ground. As a result, the study adopted the cross-section research design in undertaking this systematic enquiry. This was adopted to help acquire knowledge on the current situation with regards to the phenomenon under consideration. Both primary and secondary data were collected and used for the study. Respondents were drawn from the land sector agencies, Internal Revenue Service, private valuation firms and property owners for the purposes of data collection. The study revealed that the level of awareness of the landed property transaction taxes and the legal frameworks among the property owners was generally low although it was relatively high among the institutions. Again it was revealed that although there are well established institutions for the collection of landed property transaction backed by strong legal frameworks, revenue from property transaction is insignificant. This is as a result of lack of enforcement of laws, negative public attitude toward payment of taxes and poor collaboration between and among institutions. The study therefore recommended the strengthening of the institutional actors and sensitization of the taxpayers on the taxes and their responsibilities to improve compliance. Again, it is recommended that in the long term the private sector must be actively involved in the assessment and collection of the transaction taxes on commission basis.

Source: KNUST
Taxation and Informal Sector: A Case Study of Bolgatanga Municipality

Many developing countries including Ghana are faced with the problem of raising the necessary revenues to meet governments’ expenditures. Governments’ budgeted revenues usually fall short of the expected expenditures. Owing to the lack of liquidity on the international market due to the current financial crisis domestic revenue mobilization is seen as the most reliable source of revenue mobilization. Taxation is therefore seen as the most efficient and effective means of raising revenue domestically for the government. One major sector of developing countries that should have contributed greatly to domestic revenue mobilization through taxation is the informal sector given its employment size and contribution to GNP of low-income countries. But the tax inflow from the informal sector relative to its sheer size is just a drop in the national coffers. Over the past years almost every aspect of dealing with the informal sector has been a problem which has defied all measures aimed at improving the relative share of taxes of the sector. In this regard, the study sought to find out why non compliance with income tax is high in the informal sector and besides, explore further the challenges in taxing the informal sector in Bolgatanga Municipality. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a sample size of seventy-five (75), comprising seventy (70) tax payers and five tax officials in the Bolgatanga Municipality responded to the administered questionnaire. At the end of the study, it was established that factors such as application of sanctions, regular tax education, anticipation of benefits, high tax rates, among others affect compliance level of the tax payers while capacity constraints, large size of the informal sector, large size of the tax district, improper books of accounts were some of the challenges facing the tax district in the Bolgatanga Municipality. Measures such as intensive and regular monitoring; capacity building; logistical support; regular tax education and advertisement; effective customer relations among others were recommended as means of raising compliance level of tax payers as well as reducing the challenges in taxing the informal sector in the tax district.

Source: KNUST
Taxation of the informal sector in Ghana: A case study of Komenda-Edina-Eguafo –Abrem municipality

This study examines taxation of the informal sector in Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem Municipality using a sample of 397 informal sector businesses and 3 tax officials. Findings of the study indicate that, high income tax, business non-profitability, distance difficulty in paying tax, unnecessary or misuse of tax income by government, tax non-compliance by other colleagues, low income tax education, advice from experts, non-registration of businesses and low educational level account for high income tax non-compliance. Personnel capacity constraints, large size of the tax district, large size of the informal sector, lack of incentive for the tax collectors and the inappropriate financial records on the part of the taxpayers are the factors that militate against effective revenue mobilization by Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD) from the informal sector. Well informed frequent tax education, sanctioning tax evaders, motivating taxpayers with incentives, involvement of taxpayers in tax decisions, drawing the tax collectors closer to the taxpayers and having master list of all informal sector businesses would help to improve tax compliance in the municipality.

Source: KNUST