Despite the controversies that surrounded the three new tax bills introduced by the government for parliamentary approval, the house has voted to accept these tax measures.
The three bills were approved on the floor of the house on the night of Friday, March 31, 2023, ahead of the recess of the house for the Easter break.
After voting, the bills were approved by a majority decision of 137 votes against the minority vote of 136.
Although the Minority in Parliament stood firm by their position to vote against the tax bills they describe as obnoxious and draconian, they could not surpass the Majority in Parliament who were able to assemble all their members to vote even under bizarre circumstances.
The bills are the Income Tax Amendment Bill, Excise Duty Amendment Bill, and Growth and Sustainability Amendment Bill.
According to the government, the approval of these tax measures is very crucial to the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and also necessary to shore up revenue for development.
The government has estimated to generate approximately, GH¢4 billion per year from these new tax measures to supplement domestic revenue.
During the buildup to the vote by parliament, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta earlier appealed to Parliament to pass the three bills to help in facilitating the deal that Ghana is seeking under the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“Our Parliament, in the national interest, will pass these bills before the close of the week and it will not be seen as disloyalty to anyone party. So if I may be permitted to use the word fellow Ghanaians, we are a blessed nation…I am more convinced now than ever that we are a blessed nation,” Ken Ofori Atta said at a public forum in Accra on Thursday.
“A week ago I was in China to meet their Finance Minister and various institutions about support for an IMF programme and the Lord certainly went ahead of us. Ghana is a big country, the Minister of Finance is a big man but the Minister of Finance of China gave us the Ghana delegation almost an hour and a half conversation. Not only did he do that he also called the chairman of the Exim Bank of China to join him to talk through these ways in which they can facilitate to make sure we get our IMF transaction,” he added.
