The Coalition of Small Business Owners (CSBO) Chairman, Mr Justice Ayeh Donkor, is urging the Akufo-Addo administration to either repeal or examine the tormenting taxes that were imposed as a condition of the $3 billion IMF agreement.
The growth, performance, and revenues of enterprises with a private sector lead are being hampered by the current tax policy and tax structure under Akufo-Addo’s administration.
In agreement with the GNCCI’s stance, the Government should take into account including tax reliefs in the approaching 2023 Mid-Year Budget Review in order to provide some relief for the country’s suffering and struggling enterprises.
It is essential that the Ministry of Finance eliminate the pointless 20% and 10% taxes levied on lottery marketing/sports betting organizations’ revenue and wins, respectively.
The Ghanaian Parliament enacted the Income Tax(Amendment) Bill on March 31, 2023, and President Akufo-Addo signed it into law. The new income tax law, among other things, reinstated a 10% tax on lottery wins after it had been successfully eliminated in 2017, as well as a new, intolerable 20% tax on Lottery/Sports Betting Companies’ earnings. This adds a significant amount of burden on Ghana’s already heavily taxed private companies.
The Ghana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) threats to shut down any lottery or sports betting businesses that don’t pay the 20% and 10% taxes on those activities are wholly empty threats that would be met with vehement opposition and protests against the NPP government.
Taxes should not be used by the government to sabotage private firms and raise the nation’s unemployment rate.
–CSBO
