CSO Budget Forum Outlines Revenue and Fiscal Consolidation Measures for 2025 Budget
The Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Budget Forum has outlined several revenue considerations for the Government ahead of the presentation of the 2025 Budget on March 11, 2025.
The recommendations are intended to help the Government generate sufficient revenue to offset expected shortfalls arising from the abolishment of the E-levy, betting tax, and the Covid-19 levy.
According to tax experts, the repeal of the Covid-19 levy and the E-levy (excluding the betting tax) will result in an estimated revenue loss of GHS 7.7 billion.
Proposed Revenue Measures
To bridge this gap, the CSO Budget Forum has suggested the following revenue-enhancing measures:
- Aggressive high-net-worth taxation through a structured approach to taxing professional bodies.
- Intensified e-commerce taxation by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
- Expansion of property taxation to increase revenue from real estate holdings.
- Increase in personal income tax allowance from GHS 402 to GHS 900.
- Quarterly cost-benefit analysis of tax exemptions to evaluate their impact on revenue generation.
- Increase in equity stake in natural resources, with financing sourced through the Mineral Income Investment Fund (MIIF).
- Mandatory payment of capital gains tax at the point of asset realisation to prevent revenue leakages.
Fiscal Consolidation Measures
Beyond revenue generation, the CSO Budget Forum has also recommended fiscal consolidation measures to enhance economic stability:
- Establishment of an Independent Fiscal Council to oversee economic policies and ensure prudent fiscal management.
- Adoption of a National Debt Accounting Standardisation framework.
- Deeper expenditure cuts, including a reduction in the size of government, streamlining flagship programmes, rationalising emoluments, and cancelling ex-gratia payments.
- Strengthening corporate governance, reporting, and viability of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).
- Implementation of the scrapping of the E-levy, Covid-19 levy, and betting tax as promised.
- Enhancement of import substitution measures to mitigate the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.
Economic Governance Framework
The CSO Budget Forum’s proposals come on the heels of the recently concluded National Economic Dialogue (NED), which brought together representatives from the private sector, academia, policy institutions, and civil society organisations to deliberate on Ghana’s economic trajectory.
According to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, recommendations from the 2025 Economic Dialogue will be incorporated into the 2025 Budget, while others will be phased into Ghana’s short, medium, and long-term economic governance frameworks.
