The National Democratic Congress (NDC)
The most outrageous tax giveaway ever seen in Ghana was handed to Meridian Port Services in 2016 by the Mahama-led administration.
At the time, the NDC government applied to Parliament for a tax waiver of USD982 million for a project that they claimed cost USD1.5 billion. It took the intervention of the minority NPP members of the Finance Committee, of which (Afenyo-Markin) was a member at the time, to lower the waiver amount to USD 832 million.
Even though that was still unacceptable, the NDC majority, goaded on by the Terkper-Ato Forson-Mona Quartey Ministry of Finance, railroaded the request through Parliament.
Folks, for every USD1 that MPS invested in the project, GoG gave them 55 cents in tax waivers. Fa no kwa!
Specifically, MPS was exempt from corporate income tax for 10 years and received a reduced corporate tax of 15 percent after 10 years for an additional five years. MPS was also excluded from paying taxes on dividends to shareholders for 20 years.
The concession also covered value-added taxes, NHIL, customs duties, and withholding taxes, amongst others. This foreign company is still enjoying all these freebies as we turn a blind eye to Ghanaian businesses.
Ladies and gentlemen, what was even more unconstitutional, illegal, and immoral was the designation of some companies as strategic investors by GIPC and the granting of tax waivers without recourse to Parliament.
President Mahama singlehandedly sat in his office and approved tax waivers in 2015 for the so-called strategic investors. Conspicuous on the list of beneficiaries were
Dream Reality Ltd
Dzata Cement
Shop rite Ghana
Ghacem
Boston Investments
Vincien Sugar Refinery
Ecobank
Garden City Mall
Now, fast forward to the tax waivers for 1D1F companies currently before Parliament. This is an incentive package for the flagship policy. The waivers last for only five years, as approved by Parliament in May 2019. The government is only seeking to extend the incentive package to other companies. The growth seen in the industry sector of the economy is partly attributable to the 1D1F policy. It is creating jobs. It is boosting economic growth.
So, if we did it for a foreign entity, why don't we extend the same to indigenous businesses that are not benefiting as much as MPS? These present terms are not generous.
Parliament should do the needful!
