Dr. Ishmael Yamson, Ghanaian Economist
Dr. Ishmael Yamson, Chairman of the National Economic Dialogue, has advised the government to veer from the continuous imposition of taxes.
Speaking to the incessant addition of new taxes by successive governments in the past, during TV3’s ‘Hot Issues’ on March 9, 2025, he argued that over-taxation is counterproductive.
He stated that over burdening the same segment of society instead of widening the tax net and plugging leakages in the system stifles economic growth.
“You can’t keep increasing taxes on the same people and expect the economy to grow. We need to be disciplined in how we manage the resources we already have,” Dr. Yamson said.
He stressed that failure to plug leakages in the revenue collection systems coupled with the lack of fiscal discipline account for the economic challenges of the country.
“The problem is not that we don’t collect enough money. The problem is how we use it. If we were disciplined in spending and plugged all the revenue leakages, we wouldn’t need to keep imposing new taxes,” he emphasised.
He consequently called for the digitisation of revenue collection systems to ensure there’s a robust system to expose tax evasion by large businesses.
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