According to Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the government has planned to eliminate what it refers to as “nuisance taxes” in accordance with the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) agenda, even though it has committed to raising non-oil tax revenue by 0.6 percentage points of GDP.
These statements were given by Dr. Forson on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, when he presented the 2025 Budget Statement at Parliament House in Accra.
He said that eliminating these taxes will help households, increase their disposable income, encourage company expansion, and enhance tax compliance.
The 10% withholding tax on lottery winnings, also referred to as the “Betting Tax,” the 1% Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy), and the 1% Emission Levy on businesses and automobiles are among the taxes that will be eliminated.
Furthermore, the 1.5% withholding tax on small-scale miners’ unprocessed gold gains and the VAT on auto insurance plans would be eliminated.
“Mr. Speaker: i) we will abolish the 10 per cent withholding tax on winnings from lottery, otherwise known as the “Betting Tax”; ii) we will abolish the Electronic Transfer Levy (ELevy) of 1 per cent; iii) we will abolish the Emission Levy on industries and vehicles; iv) we will abolish the VAT on motor vehicle insurance policy; and v) we will abolish the 1.5 per cent withholding tax on winning of unprocessed gold by small-scale miners,” he said.
Dr. Forson further disclosed that there has been misuse of the Tax Refund Account in the last few years.
According to him, a study on the usage of tax refunds during the previous eight years showed that only 12.5 billion of the GHS29.11 billion that had accumulated in the tax refund account—or 43% of the total sum accrued—was used for tax refund purposes.
“The study also revealed that GHS16.6 billion, representing 57 per cent of the total amount accumulated in the tax refund account was misapplied, which is a total violation of the Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (Act 915) and the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921),” he stated.
“Instructively, there were almost no backlog for tax refunds throughout that time. Thus, in accordance with Section 69 of the Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (Act 915), we are lowering the present tax refund ceiling by 2 percentage points, from 6% to 4% of Total Revenue,” he continued.
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