A tax lecturer at the University of Professional Studies (UPSA) Theophilus Tawiah has kicked against possible move by the government to increase taxes in the 2023 Budget and Financial Statement to be presented by the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta on Thursday (24 November).
Some media reports suggest that the government intends to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Property tax rate in the 2023 budget.
Tawiah argues any increase in taxes will burden individuals and businesses who have been affected badly due to the current economic challenges in Ghana mainly as a result of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Appearing on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Wednesday (23 November), Tawiah said the government must rather review existing tax base and improve upon them.
“The economy is going through rough times, so this is not the time to increase taxes,” he said. “We have to look at the existing tax base and how we can improve revenue collection.”
“We need to be careful that in our quest to increase revenue generation, we do not create economic distortions because our rates are all over the place and we must bring uniformity to it.
“We have existing leakages in terms of tax mobilisation and until we have a coherent tax strategy that successive governments can follow … then an increase in VAT will make no difference,” Tawiah said.
Watch the full interview in the attached video below:
Fred Dzakpata
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