Ghana’s tax exemptions are becoming an Achilles’ heel in her revenue generation efforts.
“In the last 8 years, tax exemption in respect of import duties, import, NHIL, domestic VAT, have grown from GH¢392 million that is 0.6 per cent of GDP to GH¢4.6 billion that is 1.6 per cent of GDP in 2018,” President Akufo Addo indicated Thursday in Parliament.
According to him, generating revenue to run affairs of the State was becoming the most difficult especially since tax reliefs on corporate, income, petroleum tax, as well as diplomatic tax exemptions, among others, were eroding revenue which could have been used to develop the country.
“If we continue at this rate, in the next 16 years, half of Ghana’s revenue base will be given away as tax exemptions. Mr. Speaker, this is not sustainable and we intend to do something about it to reverse the trend,” he suggested.
President Akufo Addo has pledged that his administration would be introducing suitable measures that might disrupt the easy and comfortable arrangement that many were accustomed to, but “we need to do this to ensure that we have the firmest of foundation for the economic takeoff that has escaped us for so long.”
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri