When outspoken politician and businessman Kennedy Agyapong, during an outreach engagement in the Central Region in December 2025, said the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) must stop intimidating entrepreneurs and instead support job creation, he struck a nerve.
“The GRA should stop treating Ghanaian businessmen like criminals. When people try to build companies in this country, they go through too much frustration. How do we expect to create jobs when the very institutions meant to help are scaring business owners?”
The NPP presidential hopeful is not alone. Similar concerns have been raised before.
In 2024, during an interaction with members of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia also accused the Authority of harassing businesses under the guise of tax collection.
According to Dr. Bawumia, the problem lies in the GRA’s practice of setting unrealistic revenue targets for its officers — a situation that results in overtaxing existing businesses instead of expanding the tax base.
“They are harassing businesses. That harassment is coming from the sort of targets that are created at their office. They are setting unrealistic targets. Because the tax base is narrow, officers are given monthly targets and are left wondering where to find the money.”
“So they return to the same taxpayers — people already paying — and come up with new reasons for them to pay more.”
But beyond the politics and soundbites, one question matters most:
How do Ghanaian businesses actually feel about the GRA’s impact on their survival and growth?
To find out, Business Outlook with Vivian Kai Lokko put the question directly to the public across its social media platforms.
The responses reveal a story that goes far deeper than a simple for-or-against tax debate.
The Verdict from the Polls
Across LinkedIn, X (Twitter), TikTok, and Instagram, one message stood out clearly: many businesses feel more pressure than support.
LinkedIn — a platform dominated by professionals and formal business operators — showed a more nuanced response:
- 56% say the GRA is hurting businesses
- 33% say it is both helping and hurting
- 11% believe it is helping
On X (Twitter), opinions were split and uncertain: - 38% say hurting
- 38% say both helping and hurting
- 19% are not sure
- 6% say helping
However, on platforms closer to everyday business activity and informal enterprise, the verdict was far less mixed.
TikTok - 79% say hurting
- 21% say helping
Instagram - 100% say hurting
What the Data Really Tells Us
This is not a tax-rejection poll. It is a lived-experience poll.
The closer respondents are to daily cash-flow pressures, informal trading, and survival-driven entrepreneurship, the more negative their perception of the GRA becomes. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok — home to micro-entrepreneurs, traders, creatives, and side hustlers — delivered the harshest verdicts.
Meanwhile, LinkedIn users, often salaried professionals or operators within the formal sector, acknowledged the importance of taxation but still expressed deep frustration.
The message is clear: the problem is not taxation itself — it is how tax enforcement is experienced.
Supportive or Punitive? That’s the Real Debate
Businesses are not arguing against paying taxes. They are questioning whether the system:
- understands their cash-flow realities,
- supports growth during difficult economic cycles, and
- treats them as partners in development rather than targets for extraction.
When compliance feels intimidating instead of enabling, the cost is not just frustration — it is slower growth, job losses, and discouraged entrepreneurship.
As of 2024, SMEs in Ghana contributed about 70% of GDP and accounted for roughly 92% of all businesses — making their survival a national economic priority.
Why This Matters for Ghana’s Economy
Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of Ghana’s economy. They create jobs, drive innovation, and sustain communities. If these businesses consistently feel pressured rather than supported, the long-term consequences go far beyond tax revenue.
A tax system that works must do two things at once: collect revenue efficiently and build trust with the businesses that generate that revenue.
Right now, trust appears to be the missing link.
The Bottom Line
Kennedy Agyapong’s comments may have reignited the conversation, but the polls suggest the issue is far bigger than politics.
For many Ghanaian businesses, the real question is not:
“Should we pay taxes?”
It is:
“Does the system help us survive long enough to pay them?”
Until that gap is addressed, the perception of the GRA — fair or not — will continue to tilt toward hurting rather than helping.
By Vivian Kai Lokko
The author is the Editorial Lead for Business Outlook with Vivian Kai Lokko, a high-impact digital platform for smart conversations on business, leadership, and the economy.
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