The founder and leader of the Movement for Change, Alan Kyerematen, has promised to abolish several taxes imposed on imports that he said are unnecessary and a huge burden to the trading community.
Mr. Kyerematen made the pledge in an engagement with members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA).
“Under my presidency, Ghana will have the lowest tax rate regime in ECOWAS,” he said.
Outlining a raft of radical tax measures to realign and reduce the burden of taxes on Ghanaians, especially on imports, Mr. Kyerematen said immediate measures will include consolidating the existing NHIL & GETFund levies at the ports into the calculation of a new VAT rate, and the abolition of the Special Import Levy of 2%, COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy and the Ghana Health Service Disinfection Fee.
He promised that taxes and other charges on the importation of spare parts would be abolished two years into his administration.
Mr. Kyerematen further promised to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the relevance of all other administrative fees, service charges, and levies imposed at the ports will be undertaken.
Bemoaning the plethora of taxes that make doing business difficult in Ghana, the President of GUTA, Dr. Obeng, mentioned 22 different taxes apart from VAT, adding up to nearly 65% of the value of imports.
Recognising the level of stress and difficulties faced by the Ghanaian business owner, which is ultimately transferred to the customer, Mr. Kyerematen stressed the importance of easing the business environment for traders as a means of improving the livelihoods of ordinary Ghanaians.
“Until government creates an enabling environment for private sector-led growth, the transformation that we so desire will continue to elude us,” he said.
“I will ensure a recalibration of the existing tax regime structure to optimize revenue mobilization from direct taxes (personal and corporate), and reduce over-reliance on indirect taxes (import duties, levies, and charges) to make the corporate sector more competitive and profitable.”
