The President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Clement Boateng, has expressed frustration over what he describes as the Ghana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) failure to engage the business community on challenges arising from the new Value Added Tax (VAT) regime.
Speaking in an interview on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem, Mr. Boateng said although an initial meeting was held with the GRA, there has been no follow-up engagement despite agreements reached.
According to him, the implementation of the new VAT law began during a holiday period, which made it difficult for traders to immediately respond.
“By the time the implementation started, it was a holiday. When we resumed, we approached the GRA because we foresaw that the new law would come with challenges,” he explained.
Mr. Boateng disclosed that at the end of their meeting with the GRA on January 5, both parties agreed to form a technical committee comprising three representatives each from GUTA and the GRA.
“We agreed to form a technical committee made up of three members from GUTA and three from the GRA. The committee was to monitor the implementation and address any challenges that would arise,” he said.
He added that GUTA submitted the names of its representatives on January 7, but since then, the GRA has not responded.
“As we speak, the GRA has not gotten back to us. That is a big problem for us. We have not had any meeting with the committee,” he stated.
Mr. Boateng noted that the committee was expected to work through the first quarter of the year, compile challenges encountered during implementation, and make recommendations to government on possible reviews.
“We gave ourselves the first quarter of the year. After that, the committee was to present its findings and recommendations to government on how to review the tax and ease the burden on businesses,” he explained.
He expressed surprise at the GRA’s recent public response to concerns raised by some traders, especially when a joint statement had earlier been issued after their meeting.
“Even after our meeting, we issued a joint release. So if a section of our members has raised concerns, I don’t understand why the GRA would respond the way they did. It looks like they don’t take the business community seriously,” he said.
His comments follow a press statement issued by the GRA on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, in which the Authority dismissed claims that the new VAT regime would lead to higher consumer prices and distort market competition, particularly among spare parts dealers.
The GRA was responding to concerns by the Abossey Okai Spare Parts Traders Association that the revised VAT framework under the Value Added Tax Act, 2025 (Act 1151), imposes an unfair burden on traders.
The Authority described the concerns as a “fundamental misunderstanding” of the revised system, explaining that under the previous 4% flat rate scheme, traders paid 21.9% input VAT on purchases, which was non-deductible and embedded in their cost structure.
However, Mr. Boateng insisted that traders are already experiencing difficulties under the new system.
“A lot of issues are happening, and it feels like government wants to push this down the throat of the business community. That is not fair,” he said.
He further revealed that the Finance Minister had earlier referred GUTA to the Deputy Minister for further engagement, but that meeting has also been delayed.
“The Finance Minister referred us to the Deputy Minister, but we are being told he is busy and can only meet us on Friday. We don’t even know what they want to do,” he added.
Mr. Boateng stressed that any policy that significantly affects the business community must be carefully reviewed through continuous stakeholder engagement to avoid unintended consequences.
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