The flagbearer of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) have held discussions in Accra on his proposed policies and vision.
The meeting, held on Friday, was interactive, open and frank with representatives of the over 80 traders associations under GUTA.
GUTA President Dr. Joseph Obeng Darko opened the forum before inviting his members to the floor to share their concerns and make suggestions about their sector to Dr. Bawumia and his team.
The Union commended Dr. Bawumia for his tax reforms which includes a tax amnesty and flat tax rate for businesses and individuals and form part of the NPP flagbearer plans to improve the economy under his Presidency in 2025.
“We agree with your flat tax proposal because it will simplify things for us and our businesses…The reason why we like the tax amnesty and flat tax rate policy is that if you give us the amnesty and the flat tax rate, it will help our businesses. It means that we are going to do the right thing which will be benchmarked against the next 5 years as you have proposed”, the GUTA President said.
The GUTA President reiterated the concerns of businesses and traders regarding the harassment from tax officials in reaction to the current tax regime which Dr. Bawumia promises to overhaul.
The members of GUTA from the various Regions embraced Dr. Bawumia’s tax reforms and threw their support for him.
Dr. Bawumia, responding to questions and suggestions by GUTA, assured them he is committed to creating a conducive business environment for businesses to thrive.
“My major goal is to make Ghana one of the most business friendly economies in the world…My government will be a business-centered government. I want, thus, to move quite a number of government expenditure to the private sector. When this happens, government’s expenditure will reduce and the private sector will also thrive”, Dr. Bawumia told the GUTA members.
Dr. Bawumia further noted that one of the biggest problems Ghanaian businesses face is the present complex tax system, which, to him, breeds non-compliance of tax obligations and corruption.
“You find it even very difficult to calculate what you owe. You are only told what you owe without really knowing how it happened…In trying to find solution to this, I went to Estonia, one of the most business friendly countries in the world to study their tax system and I discovered that the key for them is the flat rate tax system they have which is clear, transparent and with a very high compliant rate…This is what I want to introduce in Ghana to make Ghana a business-friendly country and one of the most business-friendly nations in the world.”
Dr. Bawumia explained that his tax amnesty is aimed at giving businesses and individuals who owe taxes a clean slate.
“Many of these unpaid debts are as a result of legacy problems we have with our existing tax system. We want everyone to start afresh so the tax amnesty will ensure everyone starts on a clean slate in 2025 by the grace of God and then the flat tax rate will apply.”
Dr. Bawumia also spoke on reviewing VAT, benchmarking Ghana’s port charges with Togo to ensure parity and avoid smuggling as well as the proposal for flat rate import duties on containers to prevent fluctuations of import charges.
Since his major policy address in February, Dr. Bawumia has been meeting key stakeholders of different sectors to explain his policies to them and seek their inputs.
Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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