Director of Research of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr. John K. Kwakye
• The 2022 budget statement to be delivered on November 17
• Ghana’s tax system has been saddled with loopholes
• IEA calls for pragmatic measures to seal tax revenue leakages
Ahead of the 2022 budget presentation on November 17, 2021, several experts have been proffering some measures for government to undertake.
The latest is the Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs, Dr. John Kwakye, who believes must adopt rather pragmatic measures towards sealing revenue leakages in the country tax system.
In an interaction with Citi Business News, the IEA Research Director said the move is critical to addressing the unending problems associated with revenue generations.
“The problem with Ghana is that we are operating at levels that are just too low. If our revenue was higher than our expenditure, I’ll not be so much worried because then you’ll be raising the equilibrium level of the economy. But our expenditure is way above our revenue and as an economist, I get worried because we’re crawling and no one seems to be interested in raising more revenue,” he lamented.
“I’m not even talking about taxing people more because our tax rates are already high. I’m asking the government to collect the taxes that they don’t collect so that we can use it to fund our expenditure so we can sustain the deficit.”
As a result of revenue leakages and a weak tax system, Ghana annually records losses in revenue due to illicit financial flows, money laundering, tax avoidance, lack of trade invoicing, transfer pricing among others.
Meanwhile, Minister for Finance and Economic Planning is expected to deliver the 2022 budget statement of government before Parliament on November 17, 2021.
The presentation of the budget is in accordance with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution and section 21 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).