George Kwadwo Ayisi, a member of the communications team for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has explained that the introduction of the Electronic Levy(E-levy) and other taxes were as a result of the exigencies at the time.
During a panel discussion on TV3’s NewDay monitored by MyNewsGh.com, Kwadwo Ayisi stated that the introduction of some taxes were to stabilize the economy.
“Our half-year of growth is about 5.9% and that’s good. The streams of revenue are also going up and that’s positive. But now we have re-strategized” he explained.
Under the current administration of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, a number of “new taxes” were introduced which raised the cost of living and impacted livelihoods.
While the government believes these taxes are necessary for development, the rate at which they are introduced has become the opposite of the promises the New Patriotic Party made before assuming office in 2016.
Some of the taxes introduced include; COVID-19 levy, financial sector recovery levy, energy sector levy, and growth & sustainability levy.
The government imposed a 5% levy on the pre-tax profit of banks, known as the Financial Sector Clean-Up levy.
The government introduced a 20 pesewas energy sector recovery levy on every litre of diesel or petrol.
The government introduced the Sanitation and Pollution levy on Petrol and diesel at a charge of GH¢ 0.10 per litre.
The Emissions Levy Act, 2023 (Act 1112) has been enacted to impose charges on carbon dioxide equivalent emissions originating from specific sectors and emissions produced by internal combustion engine vehicles.
Source: Mynewsgh.com