Minister of Finance Designate, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has said that the government does not necessarily have to increase taxes in order to generate more revenue.
According to him, what he will do as the Minister of Finance if approved by Parliament will be to increase compliance amongst the people already captured in the tax net.
At his vetting in Parliament monitored by Happy News, Dr. Ato Forson said he will work tirelessly with the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Tax Policy Unity at the Ministry of Finance to raise revenue from 13.8 to 16 percent.
“You don’t necessary have to increase taxes before you rake in revenue, we have the handles so what we need to do is to improve compliance. I will work with the GRA, tax policy unity of the Ministry of Finance to increase compliance and raise the revenue as much as we can.”
Dr. Ato Forson added that he has studied the Ghanaian economy over the years and strongly believes that it has the potential to grow in terms of revenue mobilization.
“Ghana collects approximately 13.8 percent of GDP in terms of tax revenue according to the latest data I have sighted as a member of the transition team. It is obvious that we can do better. I’ve studied the Ghana economy for some time and I can say that we have a huge potential when it comes to tax revenue mobilization.”
