Following the scrapping of COVID-19 and betting taxes, among others, many have wondered whether the government will introduce new taxes to generate revenue for developmental projects in the country.
Speaking to GhanaWeb Business on the sidelines of the UPSA-IERPP Post-Budget Dialogue 2025 in Accra on Friday, March 14, 2025, the Director of Presidential Initiatives in Agriculture and Agribusiness, Dr. Peter Boamah Otokunor, categorically stated that no new taxes will be introduced.
He pointed out that no new taxes were included in the 2025 budget, and that remains unchanged.
Otokunor explained that instead of introducing new taxes, the government is enhancing existing ones and expanding the tax net to include individuals and businesses currently outside it, in order to generate more revenue for the state.
When asked by GhanaWeb‘s Ernestina Serwaa Asante whether Ghanaians should expect new taxes, Otokunor firmly responded, “Absolutely not! The budget has been read; there cannot be anything apart from the budget that was read. The appropriation bill will be laid in Parliament; the expenditure and revenue bills will also be laid…”
“There will be no new taxes, and as you heard, there were no new taxes,” he emphasised.
According to him, despite the scrapping of certain taxes, the government is saving GH¢3.9 billion in the tax refund account.
“That is what government efficiency and competency in management are about. You will realize that even with the amount of taxes we are cutting, we are making room for those in the tax refund account. In the tax refund account, we are saving almost GH¢3.9 billion,” Otokunor told GhanaWeb Business.
The post-budget forum follows the presentation of the 2025 budget statement by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, in Parliament on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.
The budget reading was conducted in accordance with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution.
SA/MA
Watch the latest edition of BizTech below:
Click here to follow the GhanaWeb Business WhatsApp channel
