President John Dramani Mahama has said that his government will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve tax collection as part of efforts to increase revenue without introducing new taxes.
Speaking during a meeting with the Kwahu Business Advocacy Group at the Jubilee House on July 8, President Mahama said the government is focusing on improving the efficiency of tax collection rather than placing additional tax burdens on businesses and Ghanaians.
“And so we will continue to work with you when we introduce new technologies. Now AI is the watchword. And so, when we start AI in VAT collection, AI in corporate income tax collection, please don’t be afraid, because if it increases revenue and it’s doing well, then we can reduce the corporate income tax, we can reduce the VAT rates,” he assured the businessmen.
Upon assumption of office, the government removed some taxes that Ghanaians described as “nuisance taxes”.
As a result, the COVID levy, the e-levy have been scrapped, and the value-added tax has reduced from 21.5% to 20%.
The President stressed government’s focus is now on efficient collection of revenue.
“Now we’re concentrating on efficiency in collecting the taxes, because we believe that if we collect the taxes more efficiently, we don’t need to introduce new taxes. And I’m sure that if we collect the taxes more efficiently and government is making more revenue, we can begin to bring down the incidence of tax and the burden on our people,” he stated.
The President further noted that efficiency in taxation will also result in businesses being relieved of tax burden.
“If in the next two, three years, efficiency in collecting taxes is improving, I mean, there’s no reason why we can’t reduce the corporate income tax and bring it lower so that business people can be able to reinvest some of the money that they pay to the government,” he indicated.
