Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko's new role as an advocate for government taxation is not surprising but admirable.
This is the view of the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa, MFWA, Sulemana Braimah.
Braimah posted in a tweet of December 13, 2021: "Just admiring how suddenly Gabby Darko has become an advocate of government taxation. But am not surprised."
Gabby has defended the government's decision to impose the controversial E-levy contained in the 2022 budget as a viable means of raising revenue to run the government and improve infrastructure.
He posted two tweets on November 16: "Are you counted among the less than 9% of Ghanaians who pay direct taxes and regularly so to keep the country going for the 30 million?"
Followed up with: "Are you prepared to pay more (like double) for road tolls to help fix roads or you want them scrapped completely to ease traffic?"
Gabby's tax-related tweets on November 26
Ghana’s debt financing reality: interest payments & compensation payments alone equalled GH¢49.7bn or 108.6% of total revenue & grants for Jan-Sept, 2021. These 2 expenditure items absorbed all the revenue collected last year! The unsustainable case over the yrs worsened by Covid.
Prudent use of our taxes is what taxpayers want & deserve. Fact: NPP Govt spends the highest portion of revenues on social interventions than all govts in Ghana’s history. Also, only 8.2% of our 30m population pay direct taxes. Togo’s tax to GDP ratio is 22.2%! Ghana’s under 13%!
Tax to GDP ratio and development: Guinea Bissau 10.3%, Chad 7.7%, South Africa 28.6%, France 46.2%, Germany 37.5%, UK 33.3%, Niger 14.4%, Liberia 11.9%, Greece 39.4%, Gambia 17.1%, Senegal 22%, Burkina Faso 18.1%, Côte d’Ivoire 17.4%, Guinea 13.3%, Namibia 30.1%, Togo 22.2%.
What Ofori-Atta said about 1.75% levy on electronic transactions
Ken Ofori-Atta introduced a new 1.75% levy on all electronic transactions such as Mobile money transactions, remittances and other electronic transactions.
Fees and charges of government services have also been increased by 15%.
The Finance Minister explained, “It is becoming clear there exists an enormous potential to increase tax revenues by bringing into the tax bracket, transactions that could be best defined as being undertaken in the informal economy.
"As such government is charging an applicable rate of 1.75% on all electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances, which shall be borne by the sender except inward remittances, which will be borne by the recipient.
"To safeguard efforts being made to enhance financial inclusion and protect the vulnerable, all transactions that add up to GH¢100 or less per day, which is approximately ¢3000 per month, will be exempt from this levy,” Ofori-Atta revealed.
Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko