Member of Parliament for Tano North, Dr Gideon Boako has expressed concerns over the decision to scrap the E-levy, Betting Tax and COVID-19 levy.
He is of the firm opinion that scraping these levies will mean introducing new taxes through the back door to make up for commitments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Speaking to Citi News after Dr Cassiel Ato Forson’s vetting on January 13, 2025, Dr Gideon Boako indicated that “If they indeed want to scrap e-levy, betting tax, the COVID-19, the emission taxes, the only other thing they can do in order to match up with the debt service to revenue ratio as enshrined in the IMF programme and captured in the debt sustainability analysis is to have another tax introduced through the back door to make up for the shortfall. Other than that they do not have any other room”.
He explained further “We don’t want a situation whereby you give with your left hand and you take with your right hand. They have to be explicit. If they are cutting the taxes, they cut the taxes, they don’t introduce any new taxes, you cannot cancel or scrap e-levy, scrap betting tax, and go behind and create another tax to fill the gap”.
Meanwhile, Minister of Finance Designate, Ato Forson, has assured Ghanaians that the NDC government will abolish these nuisance taxes and will compensate for the resulting revenue shortfall by implementing expenditure cuts.
