Many Ghanaians don’t trust tax authorities - Report

Many citizens have expressed mistrust in tax authorities and see widespread corruption among tax officials, a new Afrobarometer study has said.

The report however, noted that although the people find it difficult to know how tax revenues are used Ghanaians they endorse taxation and are even willing to pay higher taxes to support the country’s development,

However, a majority of citizens say it is difficult to find out what taxes and fees they are supposed to pay and how the government uses tax revenues.

“The analysis finds that citizens are more supportive of taxation if they believe the government is doing a good job of delivering basic services. But many citizens also express mistrust of tax authorities and see widespread corruption among tax officials.

“In its 2021 budget statement, the government introduced new taxes, including a 1% COVID-19 levy added to the VAT and a 1% addition to the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL).”

Afrobarometer is a pan-African, nonpartisan survey research network that provides reliable data on Africans’ experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life.

Seven rounds of surveys were completed in up to 38 countries between 1999 and 2018.

Round 8 surveys in 2019/2021 are currently underway. Afrobarometer conducts face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice with nationally representative samples.

The Afrobarometer team in Ghana, led by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), interviewed 2,400 adult Ghanaians between 16 September and 3 October 2019. A sample of this size yields country-level results with a margin of error of +/-2.