Traders in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region, have urged the government to collect all revenues at the point of goods' entry and to stop pestering them with further levies.

Charles Kusi Appiah-Kubi, the executive secretary of the Ashanti Business Community, claimed that the industry was prepared to pay Pay As You Earn and corporate income tax.

However, businesses are no longer able to give the government Value Added Tax (VAT).

For the benefit of the nation, Mr. Appiah-Kubi noted, the government needs to discover more creative ways to collect taxes.

Speaking at a press conference in Kumasi on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, he said, “Government should take all its revenue from the points of entry. Take all the charges you want to charge at the point of entry or at the manufacturing and leave us alone."

“We are ready to pay our corporate income tax and our Pay As You Earn (PAYE), but we can’t pay the VAT again,” the Executive Secretary of Ashanti Business Community stressed.

On Monday, October 10, 2022, some traders in Kumasi locked up their shops in protest of the frequent depreciation of the cedi.

They also cited the high cost of doing business and the collection of exorbitant taxes by the government as some reasons for the protest against the government.

According to the traders within the central business district, the demonstration will last for three days.

They explained that the protest also aims to kick against the decision by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to station their officers at each shop to record Value Added Tax (VAT) on products they sell.