The Minister-Designate for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has described certain taxes as “nuisance” taxes, including the betting tax, due to their minimal contribution to the country’s revenue.
His comments follow ongoing debates about taxes that President John Dramani Mahama promised to remove during his 2024 campaign, including the electronic levy and betting tax.
While some stakeholders have urged the government to retain these taxes as crucial revenue sources, Dr. Forson, during his vetting on Monday, January 13, 2025, reiterated the government’s commitment to generating sufficient revenue without increasing the tax burden on citizens.
He pointed out that the betting tax, for instance, generates less than GHC50 million annually, making it less significant to the country’s economy.
He said, “We have obviously announced that we are going to scrap some taxes, we’ll stick to just that. But it doesn’t mean we don’t care about the revenue, we care about the revenue and we’ll have to do more on the revenue. But it doesn’t necessarily means we should increase taxes.”
“Some of the taxes are not bringing in any revenue that you should [increase]. For example, the betting tax is bringing in less than GHC50 million a year. It’s a nuisance tax and scrapping GHC50 million will not mean anything in a way that will affect the economy.”
