The government’s continuous taxation of the people, according to economist and finance professor Prof. Godfred A. Bokpin, is a lazy method of raising money and essentially depresses them financially.
He clarified, speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile, that although additional funding for economic assistance is appreciated, Ghanaians are finding it difficult to pay recently imposed, unpredictable taxes.
This is state-sponsored theft. This robbery leaves the citizens financially oppressed. That’s not something that should be accepted. I think Ghana has tolerated far too many wrongs,” he remarked.
Prof. Bokpin says it’s imperative to investigate the best ways to boost revenue without compromising the ability of households to meet their needs or the competitiveness of the private sector.
“Nobody can tell us that the only way out is to raise taxes, which is exactly what we have done. Speaking to Samson Lardy Anyenini, the host, he stated, “The more taxes we impose, the real effect on scaling up or our tax revenue to GDP ratio is not seen.”
This place has a small, open economy. We have more than 27 different tax handles. But it’s not the only issue. Professor Bokpin said, “If you calculate the compliance cost to the taxpayer, which is enormous and requires setting up systems essentially every six months, there is no predictability given the taxes we have imposed since 2020.”
The Economics lecturer said that to support the people for whom the economy is being created, the government should work harder to raise funds.
