Thomas Nyarko Ampem, the Deputy Finance Minister-designate has assured Ghanaians that the John Mahama government will not introduce new taxes in the 2025 budget.
The minority in parliament had claimed the NDC government plans to introduce new taxes in the upcoming budget.
The NPP minority alleged the Mahama government planned to impose new taxes to generate 200 billion cedis.
Thomas Nyarko Ampem has revealed, the Mahama government’s focus is improving tax fulfilment and increasing the tax base, rather than introducing extra levies.
Thomas Nyarko Ampem stated, “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”.
“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”.
Thomas Nyarko Ampem has also detailed that John Mahama’s government will scrap the e-levy and betting tax.
According to Thomas Nyarko Ampem, the e-levy and betting tax would be scrapped in line with the NDC’s campaign promises.
Speaking in an interview on Channel One TV on Monday, March 3, 2025, the Deputy Finance Minister detailed, “The President has made it clear that he will deliver on the promises he made to Ghanaians. That includes removing the e-levy and betting tax”.
“The medium-term revenue strategy estimates that we have a 61% VAT gap, meaning we are collecting only 39% of our potential VAT revenue. By improving tax collection, we can make up for the revenue shortfall from removing these levies”, he added.
Both the e-levy and betting tax faced strong public opposition, with many in particular arguing the e-levy placed an extra burden on low-income earners and hindered digital operations.
The e-levy was introduced in 2022, initially charged 1.5 per cent and was later reduced to 1 per cent, with the betting tax being introduced in 2023 which took 10 per cent betting wins.
Meanwhile, Cassiel Ato Forson has stated the 2025 budget will reflect the John Mahama’s administration commitment to economic resilience, social progress, and a future of shared prosperity.
Ato Forson revealed his focus as he entered the final phase of budget preparations is to remain steadfast in delivering a budget that fosters growth, development, and opportunities for all.
Ato Forson in an X post wrote, “ The Final Countdown: 10 Days to Budget 2025! Fellow Ghanaians, Today is Saturday, March 1st, 2025, which means we are just 10 days away from the presentation of Budget 2025 on Tuesday, March 11th. As we enter this final phase of preparations, our focus remains steadfast on delivering a budget that fosters growth, development, and opportunities for all.
This budget will reflect our commitment to economic resilience, social progress, and a future of shared prosperity. I invite you to stay engaged as we provide key updates in the days ahead. The countdown has begun!”, he added.
