Ahead of the presentation of the 2022 mid-year budget review on Monday, July 25, 2022, government is being urged to announce clear measures that will lead to the collection of more property and income taxes compared to consumer taxes.
According to Tax Analyst, Francis Timore Boi, the over-reliance on consumer taxes in the country is affecting government’s domestic revenue mobilization drive as well as efforts at increasing the country’s tax to Gross Domestic Ratio (GDP) ratio.
The country’s current tax to GDP ratio stands at 12 per cent, which falls below the Sub-Saharan Africa average of 16.5 per cent.
In an interview with Citi Business News on the matter, Mr. Boi noted that a rebalancing of Ghana’s tax regime is needed.
“Taxation is based on some taxes, that is, if you earn income you pay income tax if you consume you pay consumption tax, if you hold property you pay property tax. But then we have left these other elements of taxation and we are focusing on consumption tax, leaving persons earning income, especially those in the informal sector.”
“So we need to spread the concept across. Possibly we need to rebalance the way our tax system operates. We also need to get the Tax Exemptions Bill passed without delay,” he added.