A tax partner at PwC, Abeku Gyan-Quansah, has urged a match between governmental tax policies and the broad goals or purposes that it aims to achieve through its tax system.
Contributing to a Pre-Budget Discussion Forum organised by the Chartered Institute of Taxation Ghana (CITG) on November 9, 2023, Mr. Gyan-Quansah remarked that the critical role of tax policies is to ensure these policies align with the generally acceptable objectives of why the citizenry pays taxes.
Mr. Gyan-Quansah, who was also the lead discussant at the forum, cited Article 13 (2a) of the Public Financial Management Act 2016, which says that fiscal policy objectives should be designed so that the country can raise sufficient revenue to finance government programmes.
Despite the issues around tax policies, he stated that taxes should be allocated based on the strength of the poor and rich to reduce the burden on those striving to make it in the economy.
“In the area of welfare, the same public financial management act under Section 13 (1b) says that when developing those fiscal policies, we must ensure that we take into account the impact on the welfare of current and future generations,” he added.
Additionally, he advised the government to establish the budget on the idea of giving the policies some tangible form in order to facilitate public engagement.
“The government should ensure that the budget that will be presented by the finance minister on behalf of the president properly recognises, properly captures, and properly documents issues that bother the provision of public goods, and the government should ensure that our welfare is prioritised.”
“For the policies spelled out in the budget to become a reality, tax policy inputs by the citizens are needed, as it helps us achieve the objectives for which those tax policy inputs are made or presented,” he furthered.
Mr. Gyan-Quansah also encouraged the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to provide a more efficient digital service tax platform, reduce multiple taxes and levies on imports, reform VAT, and structure a system to tax the informal sector as well as reduce the pressure of tax payment from the formal sector.
The forum, themed “Critical Roles of Tax Policy Inputs in National Budget and Economic Development and Welfare of Ghanaian Society”, is a prelude to the presentation of the 2024 Statement of Budget and Economic Policy by the Finance Minister in parliament in November 2023.
