The Ghana Union of Traders Association has lamented the introduction of new taxes by the government. According to GUTA, these taxes are crippling and suffocating businesses.
GUTA intimated that businesses have suffered losses since 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic therefore when the need arises to increase revenue, the government must find innovative ways to do that.
"Against all odds and challenges in 2022, the government was able to exceed its revenue target. Therefore, if the government wants to increase its revenue base, the best way is to adopt innovative means to capture those businesses outside the tax net, review policies on tax exemptions, warehousing, free zones, etc. to curtail the abuses, as well as prune down expenditure," a statement by the association said.
It also noted that these actions by the government may lead to the collapse of Ghana's businesses.
"Our worst fear is that, if care is not taken to reduce the unbearable tax burden on businesses, it will collapse businesses, increase poverty, and create insecurity in the country.
STOP THESE OBNOXIOUS TAXES: BUSINESSES ARE ALREADY OVERBURDENED WITH HIGH TAXES AND INTEREST RATE
“The Government in 2017, realizing the importance of lessening the tax burden on businesses, removed what were deemed to be nuisance taxes.
As of now, these nuisance taxes are creeping back in various forms and folds seriously suffocating businesses in the country to death.
What is more worrying is that these taxes are being piled on a few recognizable business companies and individual business entities.
Moreover, some of these taxes have rippling and cascading effects on businesses, especially SMEs, thereby militating against their growth and survival.
Business Community in the country has done its best in terms of tax payment. Against all odds and challenges in 2022, the government was able to exceed its revenue target. Therefore, if the government wants to increase its revenue base, the best way is to adopt innovative means to capture those businesses outside the tax net, review policies on tax exemptions, warehousing, free zones etc. to curtail the abuses, as well as prune down expenditure.
The continuous attribution of the economic challenges of the country to the global phenomena of covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War can no longer be overstressed because the pandemic is now a new normal, with no end in sight for the Russia-Ukraine war. Besides that, businesses are the worst affected by the phenomena and deserve sympathy from the government.
As the inflation rate reduces, we expected that the monetary policy rate too will come down, but unfortunately, that is not the case.
It is important to state that, currently, doing business in Ghana is extremely costly and suffocating. This makes us irrelevant in the scheme of affairs in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as well as cross-border trade within our sub-regional bloc.
Our worst fear is that, if care is not taken to reduce the unbearable tax burden on businesses, it will collapse businesses, increase poverty, and create insecurity in the country.
On this note, we wish to appeal to our Honourable Members of Parliament to, as a matter of urgency carefully and properly analyze this issue of taxes and do the needful to save this country from crisis.”
SSD/FNOQ
Dr. Joseph Obeng is GUTA president