Minister of Finance, Dr. Ato Forson
The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has strongly opposed the government’s decision to scrap the Betting Tax.
The Mahama-led administration has promised to abolish several taxes, including the E-Levy, COVID Levy, and Emission Tax.
However, in a statement ahead of the presentation of the 2025 Budget on Tuesday, March 11, the think tank argued that scrapping the Betting Tax would be costly to the state.
“We agree with the abolition of the first three because they are either nuisance taxes and/or obsolete. However, in our view, the Betting Tax is useful for both revenue generation and deterrence purposes and should be retained, although it could be reduced from 10% to 5%.”
The IEA further called for the abolishment of other taxes.
“Furthermore, the Growth and Sustainability Tax, formerly the Fiscal Stability Tax, which was imposed on selected companies as far back as 2001 to raise revenue for economic stabilization, is now obsolete and should also be abolished. The revenue loss expected from the abolition of these taxes could be offset through other compensatory measures, including:
i. Plugging numerous tax loopholes (including trade mis-invoicing, tax exemptions, transfer pricing, under-collected property taxes, and tax evasion);
ii. Broadening the tax base by using digitization to increase the formalization of the economy; and
iii. Improving the efficiency of tax administration, including through the use of modern technology.”
The think tank stressed that the tax system must be simplified and rid of complexity and multiplicity through the reduction of tax rates where necessary.
“High, multiple, and complex taxes risk generating less revenue due to evasion than a simpler and less complex system,” the statement added.
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Meanwhile, watch this Ghana Month special edition of People and Places as we hear the story of how the head of Kwame Nkrumah’s bronze statue was returned after 43 years, below: