Why are we paying taxes for a pandemic that has passed - Mahama quizzes

The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama, has criticised the Akufo-Addo-led government for the introduction of the COVID-19 tax.

Speaking at a town hall meeting on Monday, August 12, 2024, he expressed concern over the persistence of the tax that was introduced by the government to manage the economic challenges brought by the pandemic.

According to a report by adomonline.com, the former president wondered why the country was still burdened with taxes over a pandemic that has passed.

John Mahama explained that Ghanaians who endured and survived the pandemic are now being unfairly taxed.

“Ghana is the only country I know that is still being taxed for a pandemic that has passed,” he stated.

He explained that the COVID tax, a value-added tax introduced by the government to increase revenue, remains in place despite political parties’ promises to abolish it.

According to Mahama, the government has included the COVID tax as part of its revenue commitments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“It’s part of the IMF agreement. As part of their agreement with the IMF to increase revenue, they’ve locked COVID inside.

“So, if you come and want to take the COVID tax out, it means you’re not fulfilling the agreement with the IMF,” Mahama noted.

Maham disclosed that his next government would rationalise these taxes and explore other avenues for tax collection, aiming to expand the tax net and eliminate what he referred to as “obnoxious” taxes.

“One of the taxes that is not performing is the E-Levy. They said the E-Levy would solve every problem in this country. Unfortunately, it’s not performing well," he stated.

The COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy was introduced in 2021. The levy is a stand-alone tariff applied to the gross value of taxable supplies of goods and services provided under the Standard Rate and VAT Flat Rate Schemes to support COVID-19 expenditures and to provide for related matters.

JKB/ ADG

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