President John Dramani Mahama has reassured the business community that his administration will not resort to increasing taxes as a solution to Ghana’s financial challenges.
Speaking to business leaders during a post-event reflection on the Kwahu Business Forum on Tuesday, Mahama emphasized the importance of fairness and clarity in taxation to encourage compliance and support economic growth.
“I noticed that when the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) was introduced, everybody applauded — you applauded the GRA.
The GRA is your friend. I can assure you they are your friend, and they will become even more business-friendly,” he said, pointing to the need for a cooperative relationship between the tax authority and the private sector.
Mahama criticized the idea of piling on more taxes as counterproductive. “I believe the solution to our situation is not to pile on more taxes.
The solution is to make taxes more transparent and fair to encourage greater compliance. If you keep adding more taxes, people will inevitably find ways to avoid them,” he explained.
He drew attention to the controversial Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) introduced by the previous government as a cautionary tale.
“That was the same argument we made against the previous government’s introduction of the E-Levy. We warned that people would find ways to avoid paying it — and they did.
Instead of solving financial challenges as promised, people simply cashed out their wallets and reverted to using cash to sidestep the new levy,” Mahama said.
