It is emerging that the much-touted and long-awaited Value Added Tax (VAT) reforms alone are not going to guarantee success without complementary efforts.
Deloitte Ghana says the government’s latest reforms to the VAT are a welcome response to long-standing complaints from businesses, but cautions that it will only succeed if Ghana expands its narrow tax base and strengthens compliance.
In its post-2026 Budget analysis, the firm notes that while the reforms aim to simplify VAT administration and reduce the frustrations faced by businesses, they will not automatically translate into higher revenue.
The real impact, Deloitte argues in its analysis sighted by The High Street Journal, will depend on how well the government can widen the net and bring more economic actors into the formal tax space.
The 2026 Budget presented to Parliament by the Minister for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, last week introduced several changes to make VAT easier to charge, file, and monitor. These include a redesigned filing system for small businesses, a simplified process for claiming input tax credits, and clearer categorisation of exempt, zero-rated, and standard-rated goods and services.
Business associations such as GUTA, AGI, and others have often complained that the current VAT regime is confusing and overly demanding, especially for smaller enterprises with limited accounting capacity. They further lament over its cascading effect, where they painfully pay tax on tax.
The reforms concluded by the government, with the support of the IMF, the Minister says are meant to remove these pain points while promoting fairness and making the tax system more predictable.
But Deloitte-Ghana cautions that smoother administration alone is not enough. The firm stresses that broadening the tax base is the most critical factor for success. With only a fraction of eligible taxpayers currently registered for VAT, the burden falls heavily on a small group of compliant businesses.
“Government’s reform of the current VAT system is a sound policy and a good response to concerns raised by private sector businesses regarding the pain points in the VAT administration during the National Economic Forum (NEF) and other fora,” Deloitte indicated.
It added, “However, its success will depend on broadening the tax base, improving administration and ease of compliance, and maintaining strong enforcement. These actions will help safeguard revenue, promote fairness, and support Ghana’s economic transformation agenda.”
According to Deloitte, a stronger enforcement regime, simpler registration processes, and better taxpayer education will be essential to bring more businesses into the system.
Without these steps, the promise of the reforms will fall short, and Ghana may not realise the full revenue benefits, as the changes are not a quick fix to improving revenues.
