{"id":8297,"date":"2024-09-30T10:58:51","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T10:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=8297"},"modified":"2024-09-30T10:58:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T10:58:55","slug":"taxes-are-suffocating-businesses-gncci-ceo-calls-for-urgent-tax-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=8297","title":{"rendered":"Taxes are suffocating businesses \u2013 GNCCI CEO calls for urgent tax reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Businesses in Ghana are struggling under the weight of high taxes, according to Mark Badu-Aboagye, CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During an appearance on Joy News\u2019 PM Express Business Edition, Badu-Aboagye described the current tax regime as \u201csuffocating,\u201d particularly in light of new taxes introduced under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll the excise duties and taxes brought in because of the IMF program are suffocating businesses. Nothing has changed,\u201d Badu-Aboagye lamented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He added that while the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has become more consultative in its approach, the overall tax structure remains punitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf a presidential candidate promises to remove e-levy, it\u2019s because they know it\u2019s a nuisance tax. It\u2019s not generating the needed revenue, but its negative impact on businesses is huge,\u201d he stated.Badu-Aboagye criticized the multiplicity and complexity of taxes, pointing out the unique structure of the VAT system in Ghana, which he described as overly convoluted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"ose-youtube ose-uid-37e308048569c1a5e86d80b19bb65336 ose-embedpress-responsive\" style=\"width:400px; height:400px; max-height:400px; max-width:100%; display:inline-block;\" data-embed-type=\"Youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sAAtbrE4fuU?feature=oembed&color=red&rel=0&controls=1&start=&end=&fs=0&iv_load_policy=0&autoplay=0&mute=0&modestbranding=0&cc_load_policy=1&playsinline=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; encrypted-media;accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;gyroscope;picture-in-picture clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen referrerpolicy=\"origin\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou can\u2019t see this VAT structure anywhere else in the world. It\u2019s a combination of levies that\u2019s confusing to businesses,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The CEO further explained that high tax rates lead to tax evasion and avoidance, as businesses find ways to minimise their tax burdens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen taxes are high and complex, people will evade or avoid them. Lower taxes would actually lead to more revenue because businesses would find it easier to comply,\u201d he advised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He called for a complete overhaul of the tax system, arguing that the government\u2019s need for revenue should not come at the expense of businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe need revenue, but that doesn\u2019t mean we should kill businesses. If we make taxes affordable and simple, compliance will increase, and businesses will thrive,\u201d Badu-Aboagye concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Businesses in Ghana are struggling under the weight of high taxes, according to Mark Badu-Aboagye, CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI). During an appearance on Joy News\u2019 PM Express Business Edition, Badu-Aboagye described the current tax regime as \u201csuffocating,\u201d particularly in light of new taxes introduced under the International Monetary Fund [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2720,2721,1645],"class_list":["post-8297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news","tag-ghana-chamber-of-commence-and-industry","tag-mark-badu-aboagye","tag-taxes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8297"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8299,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8297\/revisions\/8299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}