The approval of three new levies has elicited strong reactions from the general public and the business community.

While some applaud the government for the higher levies, others disagree.

Paul Kofi McCarthy, Central Region Chairman of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), stated that the tariffs will further hurt businesses.

He explained that this will raise the cost of doing business in Ghana and that if precautions are not taken, many enterprises will fail.

Mr McCarthy proceeded to encourage the administration to change the means of collecting taxes in Ghana to broaden the tax net.

He feels that the government has focused on visible firms, but that there are many people making money in the abstract who have been let off the hook.

As a result, he has asked the government to reach out to these folks using ways that can capture all of them.

“These new taxes are killer taxes. Already, company owners are battling to survive in a tax economy. Some are already evading existing taxes. They have told a few companies to close their doors. Businesses have failed, others are struggling, and still, this government is solely concerned with imposing new taxes.”

“Our current economic situation does not call for the imposition of additional taxes.”

“Consider measures to broaden tax payment to attract additional people. You do not make the few people who pay taxes pay more. More people are doing business in the shadows and not paying taxes. We, the few, would suffer as a result. We need to be creative to make it easier for them to pay.”