Finance Minister Dr Amin Adam Assures Ghanaians, Says Government Will Not Overburden Them With Taxes
- The Finance Minister, Dr Amin Adam, has assured Ghanaians that the government will not overburden them with taxes
- He stated that the government intends to be very aggressive going forward on revenue mobilisation and would begin to implement less effective tax handles
- He also assured that the government would be aggressively rationalising state expenditure to cut cost
The Finance Minister, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, says the government would no longer overburden Ghanaians by paying more taxes.
According to him, rather than increasing the tax burden on tax-compliant citizens, the government would instead pursue those evading taxes and others whose tax net have not been captured.
Source: Getty Images
His statement follows the country’s successful staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund on the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement.
He explained that the government's aggressive posture is due to a GH¢1.8 billion revenue gap occasioned by the suspension of the 15 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on electricity consumption and the GH¢100 annual levy on owners of petrol and diesel-fueled vehicles.
As such, the government would earnestly seek to implement the tax measures announced in the 2023 and 2024 budgets to generate the desired revenue to fill the revenue gap.
He also added that other reforms are being carried out to ease the payment of taxes as a measure to encourage compliance.
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister has announced that aggressive expenditure rationalisation is another major measure being implemented by the government.
He explained that successes chalked from revenue rationalisation would amount to nothing without expenditure rationalisation.
Citing an example of measures the government implements to rationalise expenditure, Dr Amin Adam said state companies are being on-boarded on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) to stop profligate spending at the institutions.
The Finance minister applauded Ghanaians for persevering despite the hardship occasioned by the IMF programme. He assured Ghanaians that the government was doing everything possible to improve the situation.
He urged patience as the government steered the country from the fiscal challenge.
GRA to implement a tax on foreign income
One of the aggressive tax measures being implemented by the government, is the enforcement of the tax on the foreign income of Ghanaians resident in Ghana.
According to the newly appointed Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) boss, Julie Essiam, the measure is not a new one at all. However, its implementation has not been optimal.
To ensure the optimisation of the revenue collection she stated that the GRA has put strong and structural measures in place to ensure revenue generated from this tax fills the current revenue gap and more.
Alan promises major tax cuts
YEN.com.gh reported that Alan Kyerematen, founder and leader of the Movement for Change, says If Elected President, he intends to make Ghana the country with the lowest tax regime in ECOWAS.
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 hinder businesses.
New feature: Сheck out news that is picked for YOU ➡️ click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!
Source: YEN.com.gh
