Government is set to walk the talk on its promise to restructure Ghana‘s Value Added Tax (VAT) system as a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expected to arrive in Ghana on Monday, April 7, 2025 to commence the process.
This team is separate from the initial IMF team which is already in Ghana conducting the fourth review of Ghana’s Extended Credit Facility Bailout Program to determine if the country qualifies for the next tranche of support.
The mission of the new IMF team is basically to help the government restructure VAT which has become very contentious.
This follows a promise by the NDC ahead of the 2024 General Elections to rationalize the tax system including restructuring VAT if voted. After winning the elections, the promise found expression in the first budget of the government as the Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson announced to parliament that the government will be collaborating with the IMF to undertake the exercise.
Amidst the expectations of the businesses as to when the exercise will be undertaken, Director of Revenue Policy at the Ministry of Finance, Daniel Nuer has announced that the much-anticipated team from the fund is set to arrive in the country on Monday for the process to commence.
He made this announcement at the Ghana Revenue Authority Management Retreat.
“As part of the reforms, there will be an IMF Mission specifically on VAT that will be coming in Monday and the minister request that we give them all the support so that they can carry their assessments and their assignment that they want to do,” he indicated.
He further gave a sneak peak of the activities of the team announcing that the “There will major reforms in the VAT regime. This will include the scrapping of the COVID-19 levy, the recoupling of the NHIL, GetFund in VAT and restructuring when it comes to small taxpayers.”
Already, business groups such as the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) and the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) are highly expectant of the restructuring.
GUTA has specifically demanded a seat at the restructuring table to make an input as a relevant stakeholder of VAT.
President of GUTA, Dr. Joseph Obeng warns that the restructuring should not be undertaken by few technocrats while the major players in the business community are relegated.
As the team arrives in Monday to begin the process, it is still unclear how the expectations and input of other stakeholders will be managed by the team.
Source: thehighstreetjournal.com
