VAST Ghana calls for comprehensive excise tax reforms in 2027-2030 Budget Statement

The Vision for Accelerated Sustainable Development Ghana (VAST Ghana) has called on the Ministry of Finance to introduce comprehensive excise tax reforms in the 2027-2030 Budget to reduce the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency by Ms Jennifer Maame Ama Owusu, Communications Manager, VAST Ghana, said the excise tax reform would help protect vulnerable populations and mobilise sustainable domestic resources for healthcare financing.

The statement recommended that the Ministry of Finance adopt a comprehensive health tax reform as a strategic fiscal and public health priority.

The VAST Ghana called for an extension of the hybrid excise tax structure to all alcoholic beverages (Beer, wine, cider, and ready-to-drink alcoholic products) rather than limiting the reform to spirits.

Others were the incorporation of alcohol-by-volume (ABV) principles so that products are taxed according to their alcohol content, and the adoption of a minimum pricing policy to complement excise taxation.

It further recommended the increase of the specific tobacco excise tax from GHc 0.28 to GHc 1.00 per cigarette stick to ensure total taxes reach 75 per cent of the retail price, and upward review of the ad valorem tax from 50 per cent to 100 per cent.

It said this reform would substantially increase the price of cigarettes, reduce affordability, and strengthen the health impact of tobacco taxation.

The statement also called for the abolition of the excise taxation on e-cigarettes and e-liquids, adding that, “Ghana’s public health and fiscal frameworks should not create a situation in which products that are prohibited under the Public Health Act 2012 (Act 851) are simultaneously presented within the excise tax system as taxable commodities.”

It stated that removing these products from the excise tax schedule would improve policy coherence and strengthen enforcement.

It urged for the reintroduction of the 20 per cent tax on fruit juices in the interest of public health, while the Ministry introduces a hybrid excise tax for all Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSB) products.

The statement called for earmarking a defined proportion of revenue generated from tobacco, alcohol, SSB, and other health taxes to support NCD prevention, health promotion, tobacco and alcohol control programmes, and other priority health interventions like the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, Free Primary Healthcare policy, among others.

It noted that the 2027 to 2030 Budget framework provides Ghana with an opportunity to institutionalise health taxation as a core component of fiscal policy, NCD prevention, and sustainable health financing.

“The evidence is increasingly clear that well-designed health taxes reduce consumption of harmful products while generating public revenue,” it stated, adding that WHO’s ‘3 by 35’ Initiative places the taxation approach at the centre of global efforts to reduce NCDs and strengthen domestic financing.

VAST Ghana therefore called on the Ministry of Finance to make these reforms a central component of Ghana’s domestic resource mobilisation and public health strategy.