Three tax initiativesThree unfinished tax initiatives are still awaiting approval with just days before Parliament leaves for its Easter break. These three legislative bills are the Growth and Sustainability Amendment Bill, Excise Duty Amendment Bill, and Income Tax Amendment Bill.
When enacted, the tax reforms are projected to bring in around GH4 billion yearly. The Minority Caucus members, however, are adamant that they would not back the adoption of the taxes.
In an interview with Joy FM’s Top Stories on Friday, the information minister, Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, expressed confidence that the minority MPs will assist in passing the tax reforms before the House left on recess.
“Well, I am not a soothsayer, but we are hopeful that looking at the necessity of these measures, our colleagues on the other side will work with us to ensure that we pass this bill. So that we can close the chapter of what Ghana needs to do and then try and conclude on what the external assurances ought to be, so that we move on,” he stated.
He claims that the majority side will keep talking to the minority in order to “explain to them that it is crucial that we all rally around the red, gold, and green with the black star in the center tonight.”
The Ofoase-Ayirebi MP responded to a question regarding the government’s assessment of the potential effects of the measures by saying: “These are more or less prior actions that we’ve already committed to, we’ve laid before the House – the policy has already been adopted as part of the budget itself. There is the appropriation and the financing, nevertheless, as they are revenue measures.”
“The policy and appropriation have both been accepted, but we still need to provide the exact bills for the revenue measures. These bills have been introduced and are now in committee. We provided several amendment recommendations to the Committee. We also know that when the measures are debated on the floor, some of our Minority colleagues will submit additional amendments.”
Our expectation, hope, and prayer is that we will have a discourse about how far we have gone in the consideration stage and when we take it clause by clause. so that we can ultimately approve the amendment in its best form.
Benjamin Kpodo, the Ho Central MP, stated on the same occasion that the NDC Parliamentarians maintain their position on the matter.
He asserts that Ghanaians will face greater challenges as a result of the revenue measures’ passage.
He suggested that the government should decrease its expenditures.