No new taxes in upcoming budget – Thomas Ampem

Deputy Finance Minister-designate, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, has assured that the government will not introduce new taxes in the upcoming budget, despite concerns raised by the Minority.

The Minority had claimed that the government plans to impose new taxes to generate about 200 billion cedis this year.

However, Nyarko Ampem dismissed these concerns, stating that the government’s focus will be on improving tax compliance and expanding the tax base, rather than introducing additional levies.

“The Finance Minister has said this many times—we do not need to introduce new taxes to rake in more revenue. We are going to broaden the tax base. We are actually going to enhance compliance. And you will hear a lot of this in the budget when it is presented. And you’ll see.”

He also highlighted the need for Ghana to maximize its economic rent from industries, given the country’s limited access to international bond markets.

“In fact, he hinted that as a country, we are not taking advantage of the economic rent that we are supposed to generate revenue from through the exploiting of industry… To be honest with you, because we have been denied access to the international bond market, we have to do two things—enhance revenue and also manage expenditure,” he stated.

Nyarko Ampem reiterated that the budget, set to be presented to Parliament on March 11, will focus on strengthening domestic revenue mobilization without burdening citizens with new taxes.