A partner at PwC Ghana has called for a comprehensive reform of the country’s tax laws to make them simpler and to encourage compliance, especially for people in the informal sector.
According to Abeiku Gyan-Quansah, the tax systems in Ghana have become complex.
Speaking at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Breakfast Meeting on the theme, ‘Tourism: The Golden Egg, A Shared Responsibility’, he stressed that simplification should precede the design and implementation of taxation.
Why should I care whether I’m being charged covid levy? Why should I care whether I am being charged health levy? Why should I care whether I’m being charged any levy?
“Why can’t everything be bumped into one and you go to the back end as government to allocate the thing,” he said.
In addition, Gyan-Quansah questioned why the Ghana Tourism Authority, which is already underfunded, should spend its limited resources on auditing the tourism levy.
He argued that it would be more efficient and cost-effective to have the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) collect the tourism levy, since it already has the necessary infrastructure and expertise to do so.
So why must I employ people to go out there when I’m not getting enough from the tourism levy to be spending money, paying money to be auditing? Of course, there are certain things that we can do.
“So someone will say that dig the ground, let someone cover you, and that it creates employment.”