Abolishing 17 Nuisance Taxes Increased Revenue From 11% To 13% In 2019 – Ken

Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has revealed that the country’s domestic revenue mobilization has seen a significant increase under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the short period they have been in office.

He says the figure has increased from 11percent of GDP in 2016 to 13percent in 2019.

“Domestic revenue collection has seen a significant rise from 11% (GHS24, 283.5 million) of GDP in 2016 to 13% in 2019 (GHS45, 270.2). This has been achieved after abolishing some 17 nuisance taxes”, the Finance Minister noted.

According to the Finance Minister, even though the Akufo-Addo led government has scrapped some taxes in the past couple of years, the taste to properly mobilize and manage funds accrued from taxes has increased Ghana’s domestic revenue.

Speaking at an economic forum organized by the Danquah Institute under the theme ‘Bridging the Gap Between the Formal and Informal Economy, the Role of Domestic Revenue Mobilization in an era of Ghana Beyond Aid’, Ken Ofori-Atta shared that the efforts of the current government has led to an increase in domestic revenue by an impressive 13%.

He further noted that a chunk of the revenue comes from monies accrued from the formal sector as compared to the informal sector which contributes less than 2percent.

The sector minister called on Ghanaians who find themselves in the informal sector to strictly adhere to the payment of taxes inorder to increase the size of the country's revenue 'bag' to help foster development in the country.

He further highlighted that the government finds it difficult to rely solely on tax from the formal sector when alot can be achieved from the informal sector.

According to him, the situation calls for a rethink of a friendly approach to help generate the needed revenue from that corridor to help finance government projects.

“This clearly calls for a rethink on how government extracts tax revenue from the informal sector. The obvious truth is that our formal sector can no longer keep carrying the burden of the informal sector”, he shared.

In conclusion, the Finance Minister stressed that every Ghanaian should to honour their civic responsibility and always make it a point to pay their taxes to contribute to the development they yearn for.