Finance minister Seth Terkper has dismissed claims that he is infatuated with taxes.
Critics have often lambasted the Mahama government for imposing excessive taxes on Ghanaians, with many attributing the situation to the management style of Mr. Terkper.
Some finance experts in Ghana are quick to compare the tax regime in Ghana to that of Nigeria and often conclude that the business climate in the oil giant is more lucrative for business.
But speaking on the Morning Starr Monday, Mr. Terkper told host Nii Arday Clegg that the dynamics that inform the tax regimes in both countries are different.
“Ghana has one of the most liberal tax laws. We have never taxed the Stock Exchange. We have one of the most liberal incentive regimes. We had to review the tax regime to respond to current trends, we just don’t love taxing…we should be careful in exempting too many taxes when it doesn’t benefit the nation. Nigeria for instance exports over two million barrels of oil daily and so the dynamics are different from country to country,” he stated.
He however added that some of the taxes being imposed on Ghanaians will phase out in three years’ time.
“We will phase some of the new taxes out by 3 years’ time. One billion Ghana Cedis will be lost if we remove the new taxes. Currently the largest exemption we have is on imports”.
Mr. Terkper also noted that the brouhaha that characterized the passage of the 2017 budget was not new.
“In every election year, it has never been possible to present the budget in November so it is normal for us”.
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