Government may consider reducing some taxes and import duties in the future if it is able to significantly seal revenue leakages and widen compliance, Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem has said. The remarks come amid heightened scrutiny of customs enforcement and transit cargo controls after a major interception involving articulated trucks at Ghana’s borders.
Speaking on February 23, Mr Ampem said the issue was not simply about tax rates, but about enforcement, leakages and fairness to compliant taxpayers. According to MyJoyOnline, he argued that plugging loopholes and improving compliance would broaden the revenue base and reduce pressure on businesses and individuals who already pay what is due.
“If we are able to seal these revenue leakages and ensure appropriate taxes are paid, we may get to a point where we may even have to reduce taxes and duties. But for now, the burden is only on the few law-abiding ones,” Mr Ampem said.
His comments followed an enforcement action by the Ghana Revenue Authority’s Customs Division involving 18 articulated trucks that had been declared as goods in transit to Niger. The trucks were reportedly carrying products including cooking oil, spaghetti and tomato paste. Customs officials cited suspected irregularities, including the absence of the required human escort for transit goods.
MyJoyOnline reported that the consignments were believed to pose a potential revenue loss of GH¢85.3 million, with an initial valuation of GH¢2.62 million. The figures have intensified public interest in government’s anti-leakage efforts, especially at a time when fiscal discipline, domestic revenue mobilization and tax compliance remain central to economic management.
The Deputy Minister’s comments are likely to resonate widely with importers, businesses and households, many of whom continue to call for lower tax burdens but also complain about uneven compliance and weak enforcement across the system. While no immediate tax reduction was announced, the statement signals a policy position: enforcement and collection reform may be a precondition for any future tax relief. (This is a reasonable inference from the Deputy Minister’s statement.)
The development also links fiscal policy directly to border administration and customs monitoring, with the government increasingly framing revenue leakages as not only an economic issue but a governance and accountability issue. MyJoyOnline’s report indicates the recent customs interception has become a key example being used by officials to justify stricter enforcement action.
For businesses watching the tax environment, the immediate takeaway is that government is signaling no quick relief unless compliance improves substantially and enforcement recovers lost revenues first.
