No new taxes were announced in the 2023 Mid-year-budget review presented by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta in Parliament on Monday, July 31.
Amid soaring inflation rates and widespread concerns, many feared the burden of additional taxes on the already strained Ghanaian workers.
The sector minister has heeded the call and kept the promise of not introducing new taxes.
“This Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review has outlined the strategy for re-aligning our Programme to sustain our progress toward stability. We have not asked for additional funding.
“We have not asked for new tax measures. We have committed to stay within appropriation and be even more efficient in mobilizing resources and managing expenditures,” he said.
Mr Ofori-Atta said the government was rather focused on structural reforms to address systemic weaknesses and strengthen resilience in key areas including revenue mobilization, expenditure management, commitment control and arrears clearance, debt management, and financial stability.
He added that rejuvenating the growth agenda with a prioritized Growth Strategy, which emphasizes private sector-led investments in areas such as agriculture, local manufacturing, tourism, and digital transformation, remains a priority.
Prior to Monday’s budget, there were calls for the government to scrap the COVID-19 levy to ease the tax burden on citizens.
The COVID-19 health recovery levy is a special levy on the supply of goods and services and imports to raise the needed revenue to mainly support COVID-19 expenditures.
The levy was introduced sometime in 2021 through an Act of parliament and was applicable to both Standard Rate and Value Added Tax (VAT) Flat Rate registered persons.
But the Finance Minister didn’t comment on that.