The Chief of Staff, Mr. Julius Debrah, has launched the Sustained National Tax Education Campaign and the Modified Taxation Scheme with a call on all citizens to see payment of taxes as both a civic responsibility and an investment in national development.
According to him, revenue mobilisation is the backbone of national growth, influencing a country’s ability to invest in infrastructure, social programmes, and economic stability.
Speaking in Accra yesterday, Mr. Debrah said the programme formed part of the government’s broader reset agenda aimed at making Ghana’s economy self-sustaining through improved domestic revenue mobilisation.
Under the theme, “Promoting Voluntary Tax Compliance through Sustained Tax Education,” the event featured a tax fair to educate the public on their tax rights, obligations, and how to file taxes properly.
Mr. Debrah stressed that effective revenue collection enables teachers in remote communities to have decent classrooms, nurses to work with adequate equipment, and graduates to find jobs as businesses expand in a more stable economic environment.
He said the campaign would help bring more players in the informal sector into the tax net, promoting a culture of voluntary compliance that could transform attitudes toward taxation.
“We must move from seeing tax as a burden to viewing it as an investment in building our nation,” he said, urging citizens to voluntarily declare and pay their taxes for equitable national development.
The Chief of Staff commended the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for exceeding its 2025 third-quarter revenue target of GH¢130.2 billion by collecting GH¢130.6 billion, expressing confidence that the authority would end the year on a positive note.
He encouraged the GRA to explore revenue opportunities within the night market economy under the government’s 24-hour economy initiative to boost overall tax revenue.
The Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Thomas Nyarko Ampem, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the three-year sustained tax education programme announced in the 2025 Budget.
He said the initiative is vital to building trust, fairness, and a happy tax culture in which every Ghanaian contributes their fair share to national progress.
Mr. Ampem also revealed that the 2026 Budget would address structural issues in Ghana’s VAT system, making it simpler and less burdensome for taxpayers.
“Taxes are not penalties for wrongdoing; they are investments we all make to build a stronger and fairer society,” he emphasized.
On his part, the Commissioner-General of the GRA, Mr. Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, said the two initiatives mark a defining step toward a fair, transparent, and efficient tax system aligned with Ghana’s development goals.
He explained that under the Modified Taxation Scheme, individuals and small enterprises earning up to GH¢500,000 annually would pay a flat rate of three percent, with registration and payment made easy through a dedicated mobile app to simplify compliance.
The Board Chairman of GRA, Mr. George Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, reaffirmed government’s commitment to rebuilding the economy through improved domestic revenue mobilisation and public trust in the tax system.
He added that the initiatives form part of a renewed effort to enhance tax compliance, especially within the informal sector, which makes up 80 per cent of Ghana’s workforce but contributes only about 30 per cent to GDP.
Mr. Ricketts-Hagan said the three-year nationwide education campaign would leverage radio, television, social media, schools, and community engagements to deepen public understanding of taxation and its crucial role in national development.
By Kingsley Asare, Cecilia Y. Lagba & Chelsealina Asante
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