Ghana begins IMF engagements
GUTA bemoans foreign dominance in import trade space
The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has called on government to review the tax exemption regime in the country.
President of the Association, Dr. Joseph Obeng, believes this will help curb annual revenue losses, especially among businesses and control the dominance of foreigners in the import trade space.
Speaking ahead of the finance minister’s presentation of the 2022 mid-year budget review next week, Dr Joseph Obeng bemoaned the lack of urgency toward the passage of the Tax Exemptions Bill by parliament.
“We find it difficult to understand why they are still not being able to revise the tax exemption policy. It is not helping anybody, including the government. We need taxes to grow, and the tax exemption policy has not helped," he is qouted to have said by Citi Business News.
“…If anything, it has not helped to create employment. This tax exemption is going to help foreigners. What do we have to show if it doesn’t reflect on employment creation? It needs to be looked at as soon as possible, especially as government is going to the IMF program. They should rethink through and do something about it,” Dr Obeng added.
He further called on government to review certain taxes in order to improve the domestic trade regime and put in place measures to ensure the nation does not lose substantial revenue through exemptions annually.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Finance Committee in Parliament, Kwaku Kwarteng, has disclosed the House will pass the Tax Exemptions Bill in July this year.
This comes after the Bill was recently withdrawn from Parliament in order for the Ministry of Finance to make some revisions.
The Tax Exemptions Bill was earlier laid before parliament in 2019 but failed to pass. In November 2021, the bill was yet again laid before the House but barely made headway into the passage until it was recently withdrawn for revisions.
However, the Bill is now set to be tabled before Parliament in July this year before it can be passed into law.
The purpose of the bill is to streamline the tax exemption regime in the country in order to help maximize government's revenue mobilisation efforts.
MA/FNOQ
President of GUTA, Dr. Joseph Obeng