The Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, has questioned why a “broke” country like Ghana keeps giving more tax exemptions while it needs funds to offset its financial obligations.
He lamented that it doesn’t make economic sense for a “broke” country like Ghana, which is struggling to meet its external and internal financial obligations, to grant more tax exemptions.
According to him, the country, which is in a dire financial situation, needs every cedi or dollar to save the economy.
Addressing members of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) at a leadership encounter the Minority Leader, who doubles as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam, raised concerns over the number of tax exemptions brought before the House for consideration.
Dr. Forson revealed that the finance committee of Parliament has been very adamant in some instances to approve those exemptions as the country needs every cedi to save the economy.
“Let me pay tribute to the chairman of the committee, Mr Kweku Kwarteng. The two of us converged on this very tax policy of tax exemptions. We believe that tax exemptions are becoming too much, and particularly in
times like this when the country needs every cedi to save our economy, you cannot continue granting tax exemptions.
And so you would notice that the finance committee has been very adamant in approving tax exemptions. We worked with the ministry and we led it to get the Tax Exemptions Bill passed, so we have a Tax Exemption Regime in place as a country for the first time,” The minority leader further noted.
Dr Ato Forson is of the opinion that it is time for parliament as a body to put a break on tax exemptions and raise enough revenue to support the country.
“I believe the time has come for us to put breaks on those tax exemptions and raise enough revenue to support the country.
We need every revenue to move the country forward. There is still a lot more we have to do. We believe that the time has come for us to put breaks on those tax exemptions and raise enough revenue to support the country,” he reiterated.
Source:gbcghana.com
