Alan Kyerematen, the founder and leader of the Movement for Change, has made a bold promise to abolish several unnecessary taxes imposed on imports in Ghana.
In a recent engagement with members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Mr. Kyerematen expressed his commitment to reducing the tax burden on the trading community.
He highlighted the plans to make Ghana the country with the lowest tax rate regime within the ECOWAS subregion. To achieve this, he outlined various radical tax measures, including consolidating existing NHIL & GETFund levies at the ports into the calculation of a new VAT rate. Additionally, he proposed the abolition of the Special Import Levy of 2%, COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy, and the Ghana Health Service Disinfection Fee.
Mr. Kyerematen also promised to abolish taxes and charges on the importation of spare parts within two years of his administration. Furthermore, he emphasized the need to assess all other administrative fees, service charges, and levies imposed at the ports.
The President of GUTA, Dr. Obeng, highlighted the challenges faced by businesses in Ghana, including the multitude of taxes that make doing business difficult. He mentioned 22 different taxes apart from VAT, totaling nearly 65% of the value of imports. Dr. Obeng also noted the excessive presence of state agencies and security agencies at the port, which drives up the cost of doing business and leads to unethical practices.
Mr. Kyerematen acknowledged the stress faced by Ghanaian business owners and emphasized the importance of creating an enabling environment for private sector-led growth. He stressed the need to ease the business environment in order to improve the livelihoods of ordinary Ghanaians.
In a groundbreaking approach, Mr. Kyerematen proposed a shift from heavy reliance on indirect taxes to direct taxes. He plans to recalibrate the existing tax regime structure to optimize revenue mobilization from direct taxes and reduce over-reliance on indirect taxes, making the corporate sector more competitive and profitable.
These plans are outlined in Mr. Kyerematen’s Great Transformational Plan (GTP), which aims to move beyond political party manifestoes to deliver the vision of a prosperous, united, and peaceful Ghana that provides equal opportunities for all, especially young people, women, and other vulnerable groups.
