President John Dramani Mahama has assented to 10 revenue bills to give effect to his campaign promise to reform tax administration in the country.
By signing the bills into law, as presented to him by the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, following the transmission of same by Parliament, President Mahama has repealed three laws and consented to the amendment of seven others.
The repealed laws are the Electronic Transfer Levy Act (E-Levy), Betting Tax and Emissions Levy.
The amended ones are the Earmarked Capping and Realignment Bill, Public Financial Management Bill, Public Procurement Bill, Value Added Tax (on insurance) Bill, the Petroleum Revenue Bill, the Energy Sector Levies Bill, Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, and the Gold Board Bill – a new legislation.
Assenting to the Bills in his office at the Presidency in Accra yesterday, President Mahama reiterated his government’s commitment to ease the financial burden on Ghanaians.
In the view of the President, eliminating these taxes would boost economic activity and provide relief to individuals, households and businesses.
The repeal and amendment to the tax handles was a major plank of President Mahama’s electioneering campaign in the 2024 polls.
Despite huge public backlash, the erstwhile government in 2022 pushed through the E-Levy which imposed a one per cent charge on all electronic transactions.
The betting tax, popular among the youthful population, imposes a 10 per cent tax on all bet winnings.
The Emissions Levy on the other hand imposes a levy on carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from specified sectors and emissions from vehicles at defined rates.
The Levy is calculated as the sum of a person’s greenhouse gas emissions expressed as the carbon dioxide equivalent of emissions resulting from fuel combustion, industrial processes and fugitive emissions.
By signing the Bills, the final step for the citizenry to feel the impact of the repeals in their pockets is for the Ghana Revenue Authority to recalibrate the calculations and end the deductions.
Present at the signing ceremony were the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah; Dr Forson, Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Presidential Advisor on the Economy, Seth Terkper; Government Advisor on Security, Prosper Bani and Clerk to Parliament, Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror.
Scrapping the levies formed part of the governing National Democratic Congress’ 120-day social contract with the Ghanaian people.
“Within my first 90 days in office, (my government will) scrap the following draconian taxes to alleviate hardships and ease the high cost of doing business: E-levy, COVID levy, 10 per cent levy on bet winnings, and Emissions levy,” the President pledged at the party’s manifesto launch at Winneba on August 24, 2024.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
