Dr. Gideon Boako, the Member of Parliament for Tano North, has raised concerns that the government’s plan to remove the e-levy and betting tax could violate fiscal commitments under Ghana’s programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Boako’s comments follow remarks by Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Finance Minister-designate, who suggested that the Mahama-led government would abolish these taxes in its first budget. To offset the resulting revenue shortfall, Forson proposed implementing expenditure cuts.
Speaking to Citi News, Dr. Boako expressed skepticism about the proposed changes’ alignment with IMF-mandated fiscal policies, warning that introducing new taxes could undermine the country’s financial stability. He cautioned that while tax cuts could be a welcome move, they should not be accompanied by the imposition of other taxes to fill the revenue gap.
“If they want to scrap e-levy and betting tax, they cannot simultaneously introduce new taxes to make up the shortfall,” Boako said. “The only other option to meet debt service targets, as per the IMF programme, would be to introduce taxes through indirect means.”
Source:TheDotNews