GUTA President calls for urgent VAT reform to reduce business costs

President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Dr. Joseph Obeng, has called for an urgent review of Ghana’s Value Added Tax (VAT) structure, describing its cascading effect as a major driver of high business costs.

In an interview with Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Channel One TV on Wednesday, May 14, Dr. Obeng urged the government to prioritize VAT reform ahead of the 2025 national budget presentation in November.

We have to revise the VAT, we have to restructure. The cascading effect of VAT is one major factor in costing. And it is not affecting it [businesses positively.”

Dr. Obeng revealed that Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson had previously assured stakeholders that a task force would be established to address VAT-related concerns. However, he expressed disappointment that no such engagement has occurred.

The finance minister, Dr. Ato Forson, promised they were going to form a taskforce to work on this, but we haven’t gotten any meeting to that effect for us to make our inputs. They should fast-track before the November 2025 budget.”

He stressed the importance of involving stakeholders and acting swiftly to restructure the tax system in a way that supports business growth and economic stability.

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