Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and former President John Dramani Mahama have agreed on the need for a simplified tax regime for easy computation and compliance.

The flag bearers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) respectively, said they intended to introduce new tax systems with the overarching goal of easing pressure on businesses when elected.

They made their views on tax reforms known when they addressed heads of businesses and investors at the 8th edition of the CEO summit held on the theme, “Reigniting Business and Economic Growth: Charting a Path Forward.”

Dr. Bawumia observed that many Ghanaian businesses are oblivious of computation and components of tax handles paid to the Ghana Revenue Authority which often leads to dispute between the tax man and business owners.

“I believe Ghana would benefit from a flat tax system as it makes it very easy, makes it very transparent and easy to comply and understand,” he said.

He pledged to introduce a tax amnesty that would write off tax obligations of businesses and households within a certain period so “we start afresh on a clean slate.”

“I also want to realign our import duty regime towards flat taxes in cedis on import duty so that there is predictability on our import duties. And I also want to realign our Ghana import regime to what persist with our nearest competitor, thus the port of Lome,” he said.

Mr Mahama emphasised the need for setting an optimal limit for imposing taxes so as not to over burden law abiding citizens and businesses and to ensure full compliance of tax obligations towards the state.

He pledged that when elected as president, he will simplify the Value Added Tax (VAT) and streamline its collection using Point of Sale (POS) device to promote transparency.

“We will abolish the e-levy and some taxes that have become a burden on businesses and households. And we will not burden you with endless tax audits and harass you with the Economic and Organised Crime Office,” he said.