By: Belinda Nketia
A private legal practitioner and member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo, has called on the government to restructure Ghana’s Value Added Tax (VAT) system to make it easier to calculate and more attractive for citizens and businesses to comply with.
Speaking on ‘Current Agenda’, a programme hosted by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) on Friday, July 26, 2025, Mr. Samoa Addo said the current VAT structure discourages tax compliance due to its complexity and contributes to corruption in the public sector.
He commended Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson for his consistency on the issue, stating that “the good thing about this particular finance minister is that you can track his record when he was then NDC’s spokesperson on finance.” He recalled that Dr. Forson was “very critical about the structure of the VAT” while in opposition, and that his parliamentary speeches reflected his concerns about how difficult the VAT system made compliance.
“I was very happy when he got the opportunity to now come into government and give us what he was saying and stating on the floor of parliament,” Mr. Samoa Addo said. He noted that one of Dr. Forson’s biggest criticisms had been that the VAT structure was too complicated, especially in a country where many citizens are naturally averse to tax payments.
According to him, the complexity of VAT calculation worsens non-compliance. “You make it worse when its calculation is complicated. It even puts away the incentive to want to comply,” he said.
He added that feedback from traders and business owners consistently points to the need for a tax system that is simple and predictable. “Everybody keeps pushing the idea that we need to be able to calculate our taxes in a way that makes it easy for somebody to just walk up and go and pay,” he explained.
He argued that the current VAT structure lacks transparency, making it difficult for consumers to anticipate their tax obligations. He cited, for instance, the experience of dining at a restaurant, where one should typically have an idea of both the cost of the food and the taxes before the bill arrives. Instead, he observed, the final amount often ends up being nearly as high as the cost of the meal itself, something he said makes little sense and discourages compliance.
He further argued that a flat rate system would improve compliance and make everybody feel more comfortable.
He posed a rhetorical question: “What would be more appreciated by a finance minister? Making the tax easy to calculate in order to attract more people to pay, or keeping it as it is and having more people outside the tax net?” He asserted that most people would prefer to make it easier so more people would be encouraged to pay.
The private legal practitioner also linked the complexity of the tax system to corruption in the public sector. “One of the things that face our public sector is corruption. When you make the thing difficult to calculate, when you make it difficult to comply with, you attract corruption,” he said. He explained that in such a system, people often look for ways to appear compliant while actually evading tax, which undermines the system’s integrity.
He expressed support for ongoing reforms, noting that if the Finance Minister is able to simplify tax calculations and make payments easier and more attractive, more citizens will pay voluntarily. “Because why would I not want to see development in my country? Ghanaians are very patriotic.”
