Dr Humphrey Ayim-Darke, the President of the Association of Ghana Industries has welcomed measures announced by Vice President and Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP),Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, to modernise the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) and other taxes in the country.
Addressing a forum in Accra last week to announce his vision and plans for the development of the country, Dr Bawumia promised to introduce friendly tax regime to cushion businesses and also boost productivity.
“The current tax system in place, since independence, has proven ineffective. It is overly complex and burdensome for individuals and businesses, leading to widespread non-compliance and evasion.
“To improve government revenue, we need to modernise and reorient the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to broaden the tax base. We estimate that approximately 13% of GDP or $24 billion in revenue was not collected in 2023 due to non-compliance. Even collecting a fraction of this amount annually would have a significant impact on public finances.
“With the policy measures implemented thus far, we have outperformed the IMF fiscal deficit target of 5% of GDP by attaining a fiscal deficit of 4.2% in 2023. The new policies that I am proposing to implement in 2025 will give us the fiscal space to eliminate some taxes, such as the VAT on electricity (if still on the books), the emissions tax and the betting tax, without compromising our deficit target,” Bawumia said at the forum, which was attended by party gurus.
Doing an analysis of Dr Bawumia’s policy statement on JoyNews’ PM Express show, Dr. Ayim-Darke expressed optimism about the proposal and that it would be good for businesses and also geared towards expanding the tax net.
This proposal makes us happy because it deals with some fundamental challenges we have complained about over the years. With this decision, businesses can breathe a sigh of relief since the burdensome nature of our tax system is worrying. We welcome this proposal.
“We have, over the period, expressed concern over the VAT and we say in the case of the VAT, the imposition of the VAT structure has cascading effects, and it needs to be streamlined to make businesses competitive.
“Bawumia’s ideas and vision are laudable. We are only waiting for the measures he would adopt to implement them. They are feasible and we are happy about that,” Dr. Humphrey Ayim-Darke told his host.
Meawhile,the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has also welcomed Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s proposal to make National Service optional if elected President.
The Vice President, while speaking at the same forum last week, pledged to make National Service optional for graduates who seek immediate employment after completing tertiary education.
Responding to the proposal on behalf of the students union, its President, Daniel Oppong Kyeremeh welcomed the proposal and added that if well implemented, will help Ghanaian students who miss out on jobs.
He indicated that, because National Service is compulsory graduates miss juicy job opportunities.
“We all know that because NSS is mandatory, some students lose job opportunities so we believe it is a good call and will help the students to get job offers right after school,” he said on Asempa FM.
The NUGS President added that making NSS optional would benefit experienced students who could enter the job market immediately after graduation.
