Policy think tank IMANI Ghana, in a joint publication with Atlas Network, has advised government to consult all stakeholders before implanting new policies in connection with taxes.
They argue that such consultative engagements will “help to avoid any revolt on the side of trade unions as we have seen in recent past”.
The report, which focuses on taxes and how it affects businesses in Ghana further cautioned government on the importance of adopting “a creative approach to raising the necessary funds to run its affairs. The obvious over-dependence on a limited tax-base and multiple tariffs and levies is clearly becoming unacceptable”.
The 2016 World Bank Doing Business (DB) Report indicates that Ghanaian businesses make 33 different tax payments a year, spend 224 hours a year filing, preparing and paying taxes amounting to 32.70% of profits.
According to them, If the current trend continues, “Ghana risks losing key corporate tax payers, as some companies will evidently relocate to neighbouring countries with better business environments, as has been the case in recent past”.
They also recommended that “the use of electronic means for filing, paying and complying with tax regulations should be incorporated in all polices”
In the publication, the two groups pointed out that the World Bank says: “Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation”, when starting a business in Ghana.
They explained that IMANI has submitted a letter addressed to the Registrar General’s Department regarding the regulatory framework that governs the processes of starting a business in Ghana, IMANI spelt out some policy measures the Government should institute in order to optimise the process for business registration.
These measures include: enabling online business registration throughout the process, developing a Public Education Toolkit to educate stakeholders on Online Services, building a solid human resource for the administration of online services, among others. All these measures will practically widen the tax base for effective revenue mobilisation.
