Dr. Joseph Obeng, President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), has urged a revision of the nation’s tax system, advocating for the removal of complicated taxes such as the E-levy and the COVID levy.
He stressed that simplifying tax rates and making them more accessible would improve compliance and increase revenue generation.
Dr. Obeng also pointed out that Ghana’s low tax-to-GDP ratio, when compared to neighboring countries, underscores the need for a more efficient and streamlined tax approach.
“All these taxes that we deem as nuisance taxes should be removed, and then also the rate of the taxes also should be reduced. One mistake that government upon government have been making is the fact, that we think that when you increase the taxes, you get more.”
Dr. Obeng resorted that, “The opposite has happened; that’s why we are reeling behind our neighboring countries where tax to GDP, ours is the lowest the other countries are higher because their taxes are very simplified and not many as we do pay. It means that the key to compliance. Because they are having compliance, that’s why they are having the tax to GDP.
So the key to revenue enhancement is compliance first, and the key to compliance is simplicity of the tax and the affordability of the tax. That’s what we are lacking.”
