FLASHBACK: Your taxes are working – Government assures Ghanaians

The Akufo-Addo-led government in April 2022 noted that the taxes collected were used to develop the country.

This comment was on the back of the approval of the controversial Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) in parliament.

Read the full story originally published on April 2, 2022, by 3news.com.

The Akufo-Addo-led government has assured Ghanaians that their taxes are working.

This assurance comes after the approval of the e-levy by Parliament on Tuesday, March 29 after the Minority staged a walkout.

Following the approval, Energy Expert and a private legal Practitioner, Mr Kwame Jantuah noted that the government had not built the confidence of Ghanaians in order to believe that the revenue expected to be generated from the e-levy implementation would be used properly.

He said the government would need to work hard to build that trust and confidence in the people.

“I feel sorry for communicators of government,” he said on the New Day show on TV3 with Berla Mundi on Friday, April 1, adding that “One thing I thought they will do is to start building confidence in the people of Ghana. Right now, it is like a trophy that they have won because they really haven’t built the confidence.”

But the Presidency in a short video explained how taxes are being used to develop the country.

President Akufo-Addo on Thursday, March 31 assented to the Electronic Transaction Levy (e-levy) bill into law.

The policy was approved by a one-sided Parliament on Tuesday, March 29 after the minority staged a walkout.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta revealed on Wednesday, March 30 that deductions will start in May this year.

He said that is the assurance he has been given by the Controller and Accountant General (CAGD) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), who will be the revenue collectors.

“We had some meetings with Controller and Accountant Generals Department (CAGD) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and they have said right at the beginning of May they should be able to put their system together,” he told TV3’s Roland Walker in Parliament after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo delivered the State of the Nation Address.

The signing comes at a time the Minority has sued the Attorney General at the Supreme Court over the approval of the bill by the House.

The Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu described the approval as illegal and unconstitutional because in their view, the Majority did not have the right numbers to pass it.

“This is a charade,” he said at a press conference in Parliament, adding that “there is no E-levy.”

“The majority of less than 137 conducting businesses only proceeded on illegal and unconstitutional business. Parliament did not have the numbers to take any decision that should binding Parliament and Ghanaians,” he added.

Your taxes are working.#YearOfRoads #YourTaxesAtWork #BuildingGhanaTogether pic.twitter.com/KuPg3DL8xm

— Ghana Presidency (@GhanaPresidency) April 1, 2022