Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minister-designate for Finance, has promised to increase Ghana’s tax-to-GDP ratio if approved.
The Majority leader disclosed that Ghana’s current ratio is 13.8%, which is below the previous government’s target of 18%.
Appearing before the Vetting Committee on Monday, January 13, 2025, the nominee stated that he will be working to increase the ratio from 13.8% to 16% to 18%.
He also added that Ghana currently collects approximately 13.8% of GDP in terms of tax revenue, according to the latest data he had cited as part of the transition.
‘’It is obvious we can do better. I have studied the Ghanaian economy for some time, and I can say without mincing a word that Ghana has huge potential when it comes to tax revenue mobilisation. You don’t have to necessarily increase taxes before you rake in revenue. We the handles, what we need to do is to improve compliance. I will work with the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Tax Policy Unit of the Ministry of Finance to increase compliance and to raise the revenue as much as we can.”
He also pledged that the government would keep its promise to abolish the betting tax, describing it as a nuisance tax that generates less than Ghc50 million annually.
‘’Yes, we have obviously announced that we are going to scrap certain taxes. We will stick to just that. But it doesn’t mean that we don’t care about the revenue. We care about the revenue, and we have to do more on revenue. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that we should increase taxes. Some of the taxes out there are not bringing in the revenue that they should. For example, the betting tax is bringing in less than Ghc50 million a year. Is a nuisance tax. Scraping Ghc50 million will not mean anything in a way that will affect the economy if you are to adjust particularly from the expenditure side.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
