Alan Kyerematen Promises To Make Ghana The Country With The Lowest Tax Regime In ECOWAS

• Founder and leader of the Movement for Change, Alan Kyerematen, says he intends to make Ghana the country with the lowest tax regime in ECOWAS if elected president
• He noted that there are several unnecessary tax handles at the Tema port that are hindering seamless business transactions
• He intends to abolish most of these taxes and consolidate a few others to ensure that taxes at the port do not pose a hindrance to businesses

The founder and leader of the Movement for Change, Alan Kyerematen, has promised to make Ghana the country with the lowest tax regime within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

He said he would do this by abolishing several taxes imposed on imports to ease the cost of doing business in the country.

Recently, concerns have been raised about Ghana’s port losing traffic to Togo over the high cost of doing business.

Read also

Importers and Exporters Association raises concern about slow growth of Tema Port traffic

According to Alan Kyerematen, if given the nod, he would reverse this trend by eliminating all the “unnecessary” taxes, including the 2% Special Import Levy, the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy, and the Ghana Health Service Disinfection Fee.

He also said he would consolidate the existing National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) & GETFund levy at the ports into calculating a new VAT rate and outrightly abolish taxes and charges on spare parts imports two years into his future administration.

The presidential hopeful further promised to commit to a comprehensive assessment of the relevance of all other administrative fees, service charges and levies imposed at the ports.

He made this known at a stakeholder engagement meeting with members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA).

Read also

Mahama urges African leaders to establish visa-free regime across the continent

The GUTA president, Dr Joseph Obeng, took the opportunity to raise the issue about the myriad of taxes that have increased the cost of doing business in the country.

He noted that currently, about 22 different taxes at the port, aside from VAT, add up to nearly 65% of the value of imports.

He added that this is further compounded by the over 14 state agencies and security agencies operating in the port, driving up the cost of doing business and leading to the promotion of unethical practices to avoid taxes.

This, he noted, has contributed to businesses moving to other ports.

Bawumia promises predictable rates at the port

Meanwhile, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), says to improve the business environment at the ports, he would implement more predictable rates.

He noted that the measure would address challenges associated with foreign exchange that have led to significant port delays and traffic diversion to neighbouring countries.

Read also

Ghana faces potential health crisis after Global Fund suspends shipment of essential medicines

To improve Ghana's attractiveness as a viable business hub, the Vice President said he would improve the general business environment by imposing a flat tax rate to allow for business expansion and more innovation.

This, he said, would drive development in Ghana.

The Vice President said he hopes to make Ghana the most competitive in the ECOWAS sub-region.

PEPP II launched to enhance Ghana’s blue economy

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that the Port Effectiveness and Public-Private Cooperation for Competitiveness Project (PEPP II) has been launched to help address some of the abovementioned challenges.

The project, funded by the Danish Foreign Ministry, seeks to provide data to inform decision-making processes at the state level to enhance Ghana’s blue economy and improve port efficiency.

Source: YEN.com.gh