The Tax Lead at accounting and advisory firm, PwC Ghana, Aisha Bedwei-Ibe, has urged the government to move swiftly to bring non-compliant businesses into the tax net to close the GH¢3.8 billion revenue gap created by the scrapping of the COVID levy and the restructuring of the Value Added Tax (VAT) regime.
She said widening the tax net remained the most practical way to close the revenue gap.
The PwC tax lead explained that although the tax reforms announced in the 2026 budget sought to simplify the VAT regime and ease pressure on companies, they also created a revenue gap that the government must fill.
Non-compliant businesses
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Graphic after the laying of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the government for next year, Mrs Bedwei-Ibe said several businesses operating openly continued to avoid tax despite making steady profits.
They included hotels, restaurants, retail shops and other service-based establishments that remained outside the tax net, she pointed out.
The tax lead added that the new structure made VAT easier for companies to process, which should encourage honest reporting.
“At the moment, only about 40 per cent of us are carrying the nation, and that cannot continue. More businesses have to contribute their quota,” she said.
Mrs Bedwei-Ibe revealed that a small portion of Ghana’s population and businesses currently bore the bulk of taxes, a situation she described as unsustainable.
The earlier VAT structure, which combined straight levies such as GETFund and NHIL, created confusion and discouraged compliance, but the new approach treats them as deductible parts of VAT, making the system clearer.
Context
The government has announced the abolition of the COVID levy and adjustments to the VAT system to bring the effective rate down from 21.9 per cent to 20 per cent.
Mrs Bedwei-Ibe said the problem was not the rate itself, but the complicated way VAT had been applied in recent years, which contributed to inflation by passing on additional costs to consumers.
With the simplified system now in place, she expects smoother compliance and less administrative strain.
She also welcomed the swift submission of the VAT amendment bill to Parliament after the budget was read.
Head office tax
Despite her approval of the reforms, Mrs Bedwei-Ibe expressed disappointment that the government had still not introduced a head office tax regime to attract multinational companies to set up regional headquarters in Ghana.
She said the proposal had been on the table for years without action.
“There are companies that have left Ghana and we need stronger measures to attract them back. A head office tax regime would have helped,” she said.
At least 12 companies exited the country between 2022 and 2024, largely due to economic pressures, with many shifting investment to francophone countries that offered currency stability and easier repatriation of profits.
Property tax
The PwC tax leader said enforcing property taxes remained one of the most reliable ways for the government to raise revenue without introducing fresh levies.
She stated that every household occupied a physical space, making property tax a dependable domestic revenue source.
Mrs Bedwei-Ibe added that abandoned and unoccupied buildings in major cities should also be taxed to ensure fairness.
Strong enforcement and efficient use of the GhanaPost GPS, she said, would improve tracking and compliance.
On the broader 2026 Budget, she said businesses would respond with cautious optimism as the country gradually recovered from the pressures of recent years.
She said companies that survived the period of turbulence had welcomed recent macroeconomic improvements, such as lower inflation and a more stable exchange rate, but global uncertainties remained a concern.
“The next six months will be crucial for implementation and for investor confidence.
I urge the government to maintain consistent policy direction to restore trust and strengthen Ghana’s competitiveness as an investment hub,” she said.
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