Kofi Tonto, an aide to the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has drawn a correlation between the Ghana Card and Bawumia’s promise to reduce taxes at the ports.
In a detailed breakdown of the promise, Tonto explained that the introduction of the Ghana Card, which he claims is one of the digitalization projects spearheaded by Dr. Bawumia, has resulted in more Ghanaians being included in the tax net.
According to his explanation, with a larger number of Ghanaians now in the tax net, the government will not need to rely solely on port taxes to fund its infrastructure and other initiatives.
He also noted that reducing taxes at the ports will facilitate the clearance and importation of goods and services, which will, in turn, likely improve revenue at the ports.
“Bawumia believes that our tax regime is a disincentive, adversely affecting individuals and companies, so he intends to address it. In Ghana, only a few people and organizations have been captured in the tax net, and they are the ones who continue to bear the brunt of new taxes.
“Taxes at the ports serve as one of the highest, if not the highest, sources of revenue for the country because we have overemphasized our attention there, knowing that people will always import things. Bawumia believes that the government has laid the groundwork for digital transformation, which is anchored on the Ghana Card.
“We now have a broader tax base, so we can reduce the pressure on the ports because we can identify more people who are able to pay taxes. We will offer a tax amnesty to all individuals and companies, resetting everything to zero. Afterward, we will set the rate at a flat rate,” he said.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, on Thursday, April 4, 2024, promised to improve the business environment at ports by implementing more predictable port rates.
“We’re going to change the duty structure and adopt a flat specific duty. If you have a 40-foot container, you’ll know exactly how much you are paying in cedis. This way, we remove the exchange rate from the equation and deal with it directly.
“We are also going to ensure that our port duties, by policy, cannot be higher than those in Lome, which is our competitor. Currently, there’s a significant diversion of containers to Lome because our rates are higher,” he said.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
