President John Dramani Mahama has officially repealed the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy after assenting to the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy Repeal Act 2025, fulfilling a major campaign pledge to abolish what he described as a burdensome and unjustified tax on Ghanaians.
The repeal, signed on Wednesday, removes the one per cent charge that has been applied to goods, services and imports since 2021, when the levy was introduced at the height of the pandemic to support national recovery efforts. Parliament approved the repeal last month as part of the government’s broader commitment to eliminate “nuisance taxes” and ease the rising cost of living.
The original levy, enacted under the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy Act (Act 1068), was signed into law on 31 March 2021. It imposed an additional one per cent tax on the value of taxable supplies, including imports, on top of existing consumption taxes such as VAT, the National Health Insurance Levy and the GETFund levy. Although initially justified as a temporary measure, the levy remained in force years after the pandemic had subsided.
With the President’s assent, the repeal will take effect in January 2026, allowing businesses and consumers to benefit from the removal of the extra charge at the start of the new fiscal year.
Speaking shortly before signing the Act, President Mahama said the tax had long outlived its purpose and had unfairly burdened households. “This is the Covid Health Recovery Repeal Act 2025, and it’s my honour and privilege to sign to repeal the Covid levy. Promise made, promise delivered, and today is the 10th of December 2025,” he said.
He criticised the circumstances under which the levy was introduced, arguing that it contradicted earlier assurances by the previous administration. “Purported to provide free water, free electricity, free food and a lot of things and then to the shock of Ghanaians, after the pandemic was over and after the elections were over, the government slapped Ghanaians with a 1% Value-Added Tax ostensibly to recover what it’s supposed to have spent on the Covid pandemic,” he stated.
President Mahama said Ghana remained “one of the only countries where we’re being taxed for the pandemic that had passed,” adding that the New Democratic Congress had pledged during the election campaign to repeal the levy. “A lot of Ghanaians have disliked this tax, and today I am pleased that on the 10th of December 2025, I’ve signed the repeal act to remove the 1% Covid levy, and I will present it to the Clerk of Parliament.”
The repeal is expected to bring modest relief to consumers and businesses, especially those in the retail and service sectors, where the levy had contributed to rising operating costs. It also forms part of the government’s efforts to realign the tax regime, boost compliance and restore confidence among economic actors.
The Ministry of Finance is expected to issue implementation guidelines in the coming weeks ahead of the January rollout.
