Alan Kyerematen Says His Government Will Shift Away From Heavy Reliance On Indirect Taxes

• Founder and leader of the Movement for Change, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, has emphasised a focus on direct taxes rather than indirect taxes
• According to him, the shift would enhance private-sector development and promote a more competitive economy
• Earlier, he had proposed abolishing several nuisance taxes at the port as a way of making doing business in Ghana attractive

Founder and leader of the Movement for Change, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, says his future government will shift away from the heavy reliance on indirect taxes to direct taxes.

He explained that a future Kyerematen government will amend the existing tax regime structure to enhance revenue mobilisation from direct taxes and reduce the over-reliance on indirect taxes.

This will see a stronger focus on personal and corporate taxes against import duties, levies and charges.

Read also

Alan Kyerematen promises to make Ghana the country with the lowest tax regime in ECOWAS

Alan Kyerematen believes his proposal will make the private sector more competitive and profitable.

“Until the government creates an enabling environment for private sector-led growth, the transformation that we so desire will continue to elude us,” he said.

The Presidential aspirant said this in an engagement meeting with the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA).

His proposal is an excerpt from his Great Transformational Plan (GTP), which aims to deliver actual plans for economic and social development to Ghanaians rather than mere political party manifestos.

Alan Kyerematen said his proposals aim to provide equal opportunities for all Ghanaians.

Alan Kyerematen to abolish unnecessary taxes at Tema Port

Alan Kyerematen promised to abolish certain “unnecessary” taxes and levies at the port to ease business costs.

Read also

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

His comment follows concerns about Ghana’s port losing traffic to Togo over the high cost of doing business.

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.

Mahama promises to boost local production

In a separate story reported on YEN.com.gh, flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama, has promised to implement import restrictions on specific essential commodities if he becomes president.

Read also

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

He gave some assurances to the Association of Ghana Industries.

Mahama said he would boost the production of certain local goods as part of his plans to restrict imports.

Source: YEN.com.gh