Audio By Carbonatix
The government will not introduce any new taxes in the 2020 fiscal year, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta noted while reading the 2020 budget.
Instead, Ken Ofori-Atta said the government would restructure the tax system and develop a comprehensive revenue policy and strategy to address the challenges of revenue mobilisation.
This will involve lending the necessary support to the Ghana Revenue Authority to boost revenue collection in order to meet its revenue targets, he noted.
“We will take radical policy and institutional reforms towards raising our tax-to-GDP ratio over the medium term from under 13 percent currently to around 20 percent. The focus will be on efficiency and base-broadening rather than imposing new taxes on our people and businesses. This way, we can raise our domestic contribution to our ambitious transformation agenda, in line with the Ghana Beyond Aid vision,” he said
Mr Ofori-Atta noted, however, that although the Communications Service Tax was recently increased from 6% to 9%, the overall direction regarding the burden of taxation on Ghanaians, has been overwhelmingly downward in the last three years.
"We promised to move the economic policy away from one focused on taxation to one focused on the production and we have done just that over the last three years," he said.
He added that in line with the government's policy, Parliamentary approval would be sought to ensure that the 12 per cent minimum wage increase for 2020 is tax-exempt.
"Personal Reliefs such as marriage relief, child education relief and old age relief which were last adjusted in 2015, will also be reviewed upwards, consistent with government commitment to support families," he said.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Tags:
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Latest Stories
-
FWSC disputes GAUA’s claims over allowances, rejects comparison with lecturers
16 seconds -
Volta Regional Minister donates tricycles to HTH
9 minutes -
Akatsi South manages 608 hypertension cases amid rising NCD burden
13 minutes -
TMA asserts exclusive planning authority in Tema
18 minutes -
NRSA probes ‘aboboyaa’ link to Ofankor crash that killed 12
24 minutes -
Aksa Energy bribery scandal: Public inquiry will expose, shame culprits – Manhyia South MP
28 minutes -
CAPCOE rejects claims of deliberate bias against private schools in 2026 BECE
32 minutes -
Akatsi South records 177 teenage pregnancies in six months
33 minutes -
Dr Zakari calls for safe spaces to address youth mental health challenges
41 minutes -
Political parties urged to guard against foreign manipulation of information
45 minutes -
BoG Governor urges banks to deepen financing for SMEs, agriculture
51 minutes -
Nigeria faith leaders sign peace accord months after Trump remarks
1 hour -
If implemented to the letter, 24-Hour Economy will be a game changer – AGI
1 hour -
24-Hour Economy must go beyond slogans – AGI President demands concrete action
1 hour -
US says dozens of countries helped China dodge Trump’s tariffs
2 hours