Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Sekondi-Takoradi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Benjamin Nii Kpani has raised concern about the 2.5 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) announced in the 2023 Budget Statement by the Finance Minister.
According to him, the increment of VAT would make individuals and businesses evade the payment of tax. He believes that the county loses lots of money through tax evasion and thus pegging VAT at a higher rate would further encourage people not to pay.
” Tax evasion is very common amongst Ghanaians and the cause of it is the rate at which VAT is pegged. When the rate is too high people find ways to avoid paying that is why we need to consider VAT rates. Already, people are evading taxes, so we need to be careful about setting it at higher rates.,” Mr. Kpani Addy said.
He observes that tax evasion accounts for the low generation of revenue in the country.
Mr. Kpani proposed a 1 percent VAT rate instead of 2.5 percent.
He, however, commended the government for slashing the Electronic Transaction Levy (e-levy) from 1.75 percent to 1 percent as requested by Ghanaians.
He was optimistic that the reduction of the e-levy would boost revenue generation for the government.
