The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is pushing back against concerns over lost revenue following the abolition of the E-Levy, COVID-19 levy and betting tax, revealing stronger-than-expected collections in early 2026.
The development challenges assumptions that removing the taxes would significantly weaken government revenue, even as pressure mounts to find new fiscal buffers.
Speaking at a forum organised by the Centre for Policy Scrutiny, the Technical Advisor to the Commissioner-General of the GRA, Elsie Appau Klu, posited that while the tax removals were initially seen as a setback, the outcome has been more nuanced.
She argued that “initially, like any person would think, yes, of course, abolishing these three taxes were considered as losses to government, and it puts some pressure on our staff.”
But she pointed to a strong revenue rebound, stating that “this first quarter we have achieved 20% more than what we’ve collected last year… the GRA… has collected 33.7 billion Ghana cedis, which is 20% more than what we collected when you compare it to the figures of the same first quarter of last year.”
This follows a presentation of a paper by tax analyst Isaac Danso Agyiri, who called for the reintroduction of the scrapped taxes to boost domestic revenue, estimating potential gains of up to GHS18 billion by 2027.
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