Ghana’s fiscal data between 2008 and November 2017 show that generally, the GRA has consistently missed its tax revenue targets and has been unable to increase and sustain the momentum of tax revenue growth rate although, at prima facie, tax revenue generation increased year on year. The trends in direct tax, indirect tax, and trade tax are worrying. That direct taxes in particular have generally declined since 2012 with minimum contribution coming from the informal sector is evidence that all things being equal, tax evasion remains a nightmare for the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in raising tax revenues for the country. While the problem of tax evasion may be behavioral, existing literature shows that challenges within tax administration systems and tax enforcement policies create the breeding grounds for tax evasion to flourish.

This paper therefore sought to identify inherent gaps in Ghana’s tax administration system that allow tax evasion schemes to prevail generally, and to identify the sources of tax evasion in the small scale mining sub-sector as well as downstream petroleum sub-sector. The essence is to proffer some practical steps the GRA can take to enhance tax revenue mobilization in Ghana.