{"id":373436,"date":"2017-11-14T05:59:36","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T05:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=373436"},"modified":"2017-11-14T06:43:17","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T06:43:17","slug":"raise-corporate-tax-to-35-azeem-to-govt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/11\/raise-corporate-tax-to-35-azeem-to-govt\/","title":{"rendered":"Raise Corporate Tax to 35% – Azeem to gov’t"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Director of the\u00a0Centre for Budget Advocacy Ghana, Vitus Azeem, believes the Akufo-Addo administration’s\u00a0aim to make Ghana self-sufficient will be better served by increasing corporate tax significantly.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Eyewitness News<\/strong>, Mr. Azeem proposed an increase to 35 percent, instead of the expected decrease to 20 percent, as indicated by the government.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”NETqLeab5d89PdarwOYjKl5TfnmdVgmg”]The Corporate Tax Rate in Ghana currently stands at 25 percent, and has been in the same range for the past decade.<\/p>\n It hit as high 32.50 percent in 2004, before dropping to 30 percent in 2005, before steadying at 25 percent in subsequent years.<\/p>\n But Mr. Azeem is adamant that the government needs to \u201csend the Corporate Tax back to 35 percent; the rate at which it was in the 1990s or at least up to 30 percent. That will make sure that people who are making money will pay\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n He stated further that “bringing the corporate tax down to 20 percent is actually going to damage our [revenue]\u00a0mobilization efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Azeem also allayed fears that struggling businesses would be burdened specifically because the corporate\u00a0tax is a tax based on a company’s profits declared in audited accounts.<\/p>\n “It is the businesses that are making profits that will be affected and income tax is graduated. So depending on how much income you are earning, you will pay 30 percent based on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Spreading tax net<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr. Azeem urged the government to spread its tax net instead of exempting more people from paying income tax.<\/p>\n “One example I have been very much against is private universities. Can you imagine somebody saying that corporate tax on private universities is a nuisance tax because they are contributing to the development of the country?\u201d<\/p>\n “The driver who drives a government car takes a salary of less than GHc 100 and is taxed. A nurse and doctor who save lives are taxed. They are contributing to the development of a country. So if a private university is making profits, why should it be exempted them from tax,\u201d Mr. Azeem argued.<\/p>\n NPP’s tax cuts<\/strong><\/p>\n As a campaign promise, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) indicated that its management of the economy would see a shift in policy from taxation to production to relieve the burden on the private sector and boost production.<\/p>\n