IMF supports move to scrap COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy on July 24

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has endorsed the Ghanaian government’s plan to abolish the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy.

The move is expected to be officially announced during the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review on Thursday, July 24, 2025.

This decision follows a series of engagements between the government and the IMF as part of broader tax reform consultations aimed at reducing the burden on businesses while enhancing domestic revenue mobilisation.

Speaking on Joy News, as monitored by GhanaWeb Business, Edward Apenteng Gyamera, Commissioner of the Domestic Tax Revenue Division at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), confirmed that stakeholders have agreed to the removal of the COVID-19 levy, along with other tax measures that hinder business growth.

According to him, progress has been made in discussions around the new tax reforms, with the local business community expressing broad support for several IMF-backed initiatives.

“I think so far, with our interactions with stakeholders, everybody is of the view that this levy should be taken off when the reform is completed. The removal of the cascading effect of the levies—treating them as part of the VAT mechanism where businesses can claim inputs and deductions—has been generally accepted by all,” he stated.

The COVID-19 levy was introduced under the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy Act, 2021, and signed into law by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. It imposed a special levy on the supply of goods, services, and imports to generate revenue for pandemic-related expenditures.

SP/MA