A private legal practitioner has bemoaned the government’s imposition of more taxes on Ghanaians in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting salaries of government appointees could be slashed.
Alexander Twum-Barimah who was speaking on Morning Update on TV XYZ indicated that taxing the ordinary Ghanaian was not the solution to mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on the country’s ailing economy.
The 2021 budget statement and economic policy of the government proposed new taxes on petroleum products, 1% COVID-19 Health Levy on VAT Flat Rate Scheme and 1% on the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL).
The reactions from a section of Ghanaians indicate that the Akufo-Addo government is insensitive to the plights of the millions of Ghanaians whose businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic.
But Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has urged Ghanaians to accept to pay a “little” extra taxes introduced in the 2021 budget statement to help resuscitate the economy which he said was hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Contributing to the budget discussion in Parliament on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, Nkrumah who is also MP for Ofoase-Ayirebi said, “we are at that point where every Ghanaian has to chip in a little so that we are able to recover. We cannot as a country allow the temporary challenges that we face today to hold us back.”
