Parliament passes new VAT Bill to overhaul tax system

Parliament has approved the Value Added Tax (VAT) Bill, 2025, marking a major step toward overhauling Ghana’s VAT regime to improve clarity, consistency, and legal certainty.

The new law replaces the existing flat-rate system with a unified structure designed to simplify the tax framework. It also raises the registration threshold for VAT-eligible businesses — a change expected to exempt many micro and small enterprises from VAT obligations altogether.

But during the debate, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin warned that the revised framework could result in additional tax liabilities for businesses and increase the financial burden on the general public.

Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem dismissed these concerns, arguing that the reforms will make compliance easier, not harder, and will not introduce new tax burdens on businesses or consumers.

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