Luxury vehicle/Talk tax – You are merely robbing ‘Peter to pay Paul’ - Ghanaians tell Akufo-Addo

Scrapping off one tax and increasing another is as good as nothing, sections of Ghanaians have said about the ‘talk tax’ increment announced by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta in parliament, Monday, July 29, 2019.

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta during the 2019 mid-year budget review on Monday disclosed that there would be an increment on Communication Services Tax from 6% to 9%. He also noted that government as part of efforts to ‘listen’ to its citizens, has rescinded on its decision to continue implementation of the luxury tax vehicle.

Reacting to the statement made by the Finance Minister, some Ghanaians opined that this new policy amounts to ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’. It defeats the purpose of easing the economic woes of the people they believe.

They re-echoed that the Finance Minister during his presentation said President Akufo-Addo is reminding his appointees especially the cabinet ministers that Ghanaians are suffering urging them to work harder for the betterment of Ghanaians.

“Many Ghanaians are still suffering despite what the government has done so far," the Finance Minister said at the Mid-Year Budget Review presentation in Parliament.

The Communication Tax is under Section One of the Communications Service Tax Act 2008, (Act 754) and is paid by consumers of the communications service providers who in turn pay all the tax collected to the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) on a monthly basis.

During the presentation of the mid-year budget Monday, the Finance Minister noted that taxes on luxury vehicles which was passed in 2018 have been scrapped off.

Owners of vehicles with engine capacity of two thousand, nine hundred and fifty (2950) Cubic Centimeters and more were required to pay levies ranging from GH¢1,000 to GH¢2,000.

On the other hand, some others who spoke to GhanaWeb laud Ken Ofori-Atta’s decision to increase the tax on communication.

They believe this action will help fight cybercrimes among other fraudulent activities which have become rampant in the country.