In the wake of the current economic crisis, the Tax Justice Coalition Ghana has proposed a better way the government can rake in more revenue for the state.

The coalition wants the government to leverage the property tax, since it believes this is a better way of raising more revenue for the state than the proposed 2.5% Value Added Tax (VAT) increment.

Justifying this call on the government, the chairman of the group, Vitus Azeem, noted that “we are talking about tax on income, property and wealth, for example, when you drive to East Legon, you look at the roads, we are not talking about the beautiful, expensive houses over there. But the roads they have built over there, with taxes of all Ghanaians, are better than the roads in Kasoa”.

“So those people should be paying more than those people in Kasoa. They are in a better position to pay than those in Kasoa, because they are enjoying better benefits than the rest of us, so they must be made to pay more. The point is, let’s concentrate on property income and property taxes,” Chairman of the Tax Justice Coalition Ghana said.

Government intends to raise VAT by 2.5% as part of measures towards economic recovery. This, if approved by Parliament, will take effect from January 2023.

However, the coalition has expressed concern over this mode of raising revenue, stating that if Parliament approves the proposed VAT rate, it will only compound the hardships of the ordinary Ghanaian, especially the marginalised in society.

According to them, this will not work well to the benefit of the ordinary Ghanaian.

The current standard rate of VAT is 12.5%. If the proposed rate is approved, the standard VAT will shoot up to 15%. This will affect the prices of products on the market and make them more expensive.

Source: The Independent Ghana