Parliament passes three new taxes despite stiff opposition by minority

Parliament has passed three new tax measures during an extended sitting of Friday, March 31, 2023.

The said taxes also faced stiff opposition from the Minority Caucus in the House but the Majority managed to marshall all their numbers on the day to get the taxes passed.

The three new taxes are: Excise Duty Amendment Bill 2022, the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, 2022, the Ghana Revenue Authority Bill 2022 and the Income Tax Amendment Bill 2022.

The bills were presented to Parliament as part of government's plans to raise about 4 billion Ghana Cedis annually in domestic revenue mobilisation.

They are also crucial to help secure Board Approval for the US$3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme after a staff-level agreement was reached late last year.

As part of measures to meet the criteria set by the IMF to qualify for a bailout, the government has completed tariff adjustment by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Publication of the Auditor-General’s Report on COVID-19 spending, and Onboarding of Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) and Road Fund on Ghana integrated financial management information system (GIFMIS).

Government in justifying the introduction of the taxes said they are critical for recovery from the current economic crisis.