The President of the Ghana Traders Association of Ghana (GUTA), Dr Joseph Obeng is calling on Parliament not to pass the government’s proposed three new taxes. The three new taxes are currently before Parliament for consideration to help government shore up more revenue to salvage the ailing economy.
The three new taxes include Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, Excise Duty and Excise Tax Stamp (Amendment) Bills and the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill. Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show with Bernard Avle, Dr. Obeng laments the inability of businesses to thrive if Parliament passes these new taxes.
Opposing the proposed taxes he said, “we are sending a clear message that unless they [Parliament] represent themselves and that they do not represent the good people of Ghana, especially the business community, then they should go ahead with this. All that we are saying is that they should hold on. Let’s evaluate and see where best we can enhance revenue, rather than compound [taxes] on all of us. They [Parliament] should do the needful because it’s not going to help us. Already businesses are dying, and the government wants to ensure local productivity. How do you ensure local productivity when we have these killer taxes?”
The GUTA President added, “where we have interest rates going up, how are businesses going to thrive with these taxes? We are not competitive even in the sub-region, we are quite irrelevant when it comes to the continental free trade that we are all trying to take advantage of because of the excessive taxes we are paying. The taxes are just so many”.
He said additional taxes on existing ones will have a toll on businesses. “The cost is overwhelming for businesses, if you add additional taxes, it’s going to be very unbearable for businesses. The taxes are recycled around a few successful people and that will not be fair, the cost of doing business is extremely high,” he said.
By: Leticia Osei
