Mahama: More taxes will only encourage evasion, not compliance

President John Dramani Mahama has reassured the business community of his government’s commitment to making revenue mobilisation more business-friendly and transparent.

Speaking with Business Leaders during an event to reflect on the Kwahu Business Forum on Tuesday, April 29, President Mahama emphasised that his administration has no intention of introducing new taxes that could threaten the survival of businesses or encourage tax evasion.

I noticed that when the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) was introduced, everybody applauded — you applauded the GRA. The GRA is your friend. I can assure you they are your friend, and they will become even more business-friendly because I believe the solution to our situation is not to pile on more taxes,” President Mahama said.

Ghanaian fashion

He further stated, “The solution is to make taxes more transparent and fair to encourage greater compliance. If you keep adding more taxes, people will inevitably find ways to avoid them. That was the same argument we made against the previous government’s introduction of the E-Levy.”

Reflecting on the impact of the E-Levy, President Mahama added, “We warned that people would find ways to avoid paying it — and they did. Instead of solving financial challenges as promised, people simply cashed out their wallets and reverted to using cash to sidestep the new levy.”

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