An Examination of Oil and Gas Taxation and Revenue Management in Ghana

The tax and revenue management policies and regulations of a number of oil-rich countries were briefly reviewed and compared to Ghana’s oil and gas taxation and revenue management legislation. A key finding is the noncompliance of the Government of Ghana with the provisions in the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), which potentially makes the occurrence of the “oil curse” in Ghana more likely. The research recommends that the Government of Ghana put in place adequate measures, underpinned by appropriate legislation, to enable the retention and investment of its share of oil revenues, and also deal with oil revenue volatility. The Government of Ghana should design a long-term fiscal strategy, based upon high quality, long-term economic and revenue projections, which includes a sensitivity analysis. The PRMA requires amendment in the areas of accounting for the oil and gas revenues, setting up safeguards for the use of the revenues accrued from the oil and gas sector, as well as ad- hering strictly to the priority areas determined for the allocation of the petroleum revenues. This will allow for robust provisions and safety nets to be enshrined in oil and gas taxation and revenue management laws, to safeguard the revenue inflows for development.