By Razak Baba
The Ghana Revenue Authority says efforts to pass the Tax Exemptions Bill, 2021 is a good step towards sanitising the tax exemptions regime from abuse. It has therefore urged Parliament, to as a matter of urgency, ensure speedy passage of the Bill into law to control exploitations and improve revenue mobilisation for national development.
The Office Manager of the Asokwa Taxpayer Service Centre of the GRA, Michael Acheampong who made the observation at a Regional Tax Dialogue on Ghana’s Exemptions Bill, 2021 in Kumasi said the Bill when passed into law would enhance their work as implementers of tax laws.
The tax dialogue attracted participants from the Northern, Upper East, North East, Ahafo, Bono, Bono East and Ashanti Regions. Participants were made up of representatives from the Private Sector, the Association of Ghana Industries, entrepreneurs, Civil Society Organizations and media practitioners.
The Coordinator of Tax Justice Coalition, Ghana, Louis Acheampong noted that Ghana has a lot of Tax incentives granted by Parliament, Ministries and other authorities at different levels, hence the introduction of the Exemptions Bill to bring them together to ensure proper coordination.
“The Coalition is poised to ensure that taxes and domestic revenues mobilized are appropriately utilized to enhance development in the country”.
The Office Manager of Asokwa Taxpayer Service Centre, Michael Acheampong, said even though the government needs adequate revenue to prosecute its development agenda, certain vulnerable groups need to be protected through threshold relieves and concessions due to their low level income.
The dialogue sought to build a civil society alliance for consultations and inputs of various stakeholders across the country on the Exemptions Bill and present to Parliament for consideration ahead of the passage of the Bill into law.
The Regional Tax dialogue on Ghana’s Exemptions Bill 2021 in Kumasi was put together by the Tax Justice Coalition, Ghana, in collaboration with the Africa Centre for Energy Policy, ACEP with funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office under the Ghana Revenue Programme.
