The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) is calling on President Nana Akufo-Addo to intervene in providing innovative ways of broadening the tax net rather than slapping additional taxes that overburden private businesses.

The Association believes government’s plans of introducing a 2.5% Growth and Sustainability Levy and 20% Excise Duty on beverage companies may cause a lot of businesses to close down.

The Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Tsonam Cleanse Akpeloo made the call ahead of the President’s State of the Nation Address scheduled for March 8, 2023.

“There are several taxes that are being levied on industries on a daily basis. We already pay VAT. As I speak to you, there’s a growth and sustainability levy which is 2.5% on profit before tax which is a bill before Parliament. This will bring an additional tax burden on industries. We have also got the excise duty bill which is proposing to introduce about 20% levy on beverage companies, and actually increasing the levy on bottled water from 17.5% to 20%,” Tsonam Akpeloo lamented.