NPP overburdening businesses with taxes – Mahama

Former President John Mahama has accused the Akufo Addo government of overburdening Ghanaian businesses with taxes after it described various taxes during the NDC regime as “nuisance tax”.

According to Mr. Mahama “You said you were moving from taxation to production, but now it is from taxation to taxation”.

Mahama said this when he addressed separate meetings with delegates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at Ejisu and Subin as part of his campaign tour of the Ashanti Region.

As a solution to the depriving hardship faced by Ghanaian business, the former president wants government “to stimulate the economy so that money can start circulating in the economy again.”

“You have to put in measures to enable businesses flourish. If businesses flourish and you come to collect tax from them, they will pay because they have enough money. But now that you have let the businesses down, is this the time to burden them with tax?”

He added: “…There is no economic activity in this country, consumption has gone down, nobody is buying anything. So this is not the time to harass people with taxes.”

The comments come as the Finance Minister prepares to deliver the 2019 Budget tomorrow, November, 15, 2018.

Kasapafmonline.com understands the Budget will be heavy on programs that will prop up government’s industrialization drive and infrastructure projects in the country.

Meanwhile, the IMF says the 2019 budget would need to address persistent revenue shortfalls and start tackling decisively the issue of exemptions.