Remove nuisance taxes, replace them with productive levies – ISSER on 2022 budget

Head of the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Professor Peter Quartey has urged government to remove a number of taxes earlier introduced in its previous budget and replace them

According to him, these taxes which have become nuisance taxes have over the period not lived up to expectations with regard to shoring up revenue.

Speaking on expectations ahead of the 2022 budget presentation, the ISSER Director suggested that should new taxes be introduced, government must at least replace them productive levies.

“If new taxes would be introduced, there is the need to evaluate current taxes to find out those that are not performing or what we call nuisance taxes. They should be taken out or replaced with something else. But if you add more, there can be too much stress on the private sector and individuals, and that could lead to tax avoidance and tax evasion.” he explained.

“The sanitation revenue, for instance, the second quarter 2021 figures show that they are not yielding much. It is the COVID-19 health levy as well as the financial sector levy that is racking in the revenue. The sanitation levy for instance is not bringing in much. So, it’s either we review these taxes to see whether they are being efficient, or we are rather spending more money collecting this little revenue, or we scrap them and replace them with something that will bring in more revenue to the system,” Prof. Quartey added.

Meanwhile, Minister for Finance and Economic Planning is expected to deliver the 2022 budget statement of government before Parliament on November 17, 2021.

Various stakeholders, economists and market watchers expect the finance minister to address an array of issues especially with regard to the economy.

They expect the issue of Ghana’s debt sustainability, rising unemployment rate, government’s revenue generation and expenditure, among others to be addressed.

The presentation of the budget is in accordance with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution and section 21 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921). Read Full Story