The Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta has stated categorically that the government will not increase VAT as speculated by media earlier.
"Mr Speaker, last year we abolished numerous taxes. The scale of tax reductions had never been implemented in the 60 years of Ghana’s economic history since independence. The evidence shows that the economy has responded positively to these tax cuts. What is also clear to us Mr Speaker is that we are not collecting as much as we should."The solution to this problem, however, is not necessarily, imposition of many taxes, we must first make sure that we ensure compliance with existing tax laws, plug the leakages in the existing system, ensure value-for-money for the expenditures that government undertakes and ensure Mr Speaker, that the wealthy also pay their fair share. Me Speaker, any taxes should be to elicit socially desirable outcomes such as a better environment in this regard."I’ll like to inform the house Mr Speaker that there will be no increase in VAT," Mr Ofori-Atta said.
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This year’s presentation has been one of the much talked about by the general public. This is due to media reports suggesting that the Minister will announce an increment in VAT from 17.5% to 21.5%.
The Minority in Parliament also indicated their opposition to the said increment.
However, Mr Ofori-Atta called on the Minority Members of Parliament to desist from accepting everything they see on social media as the truth.
“I would like to advise our friends in the opposition that they should stop taking direction on the economy from social media.”
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Mr Ofori-Atta said that the government will rather intensify its tax collection processes in order to meet its target.
The presentation of the mid-year budget review is in line with Ghana’s Financial Management Administration Act which requires that the Minister for Finance appear before Parliament not later than July 31, to submit a Mid-Year Fiscal Policy review.
The review gives the government the opportunity to inform the Parliament of its revision of economic targets and forecast for the remaining half of the year.