A member of the Communications team of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ellen Ama Daaku, has indicated that the benefits of the E-levy have been cro
A member of the Communications team of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ellen Ama Daaku, has indicated that the benefits of the E-levy have been crowded out by the partisan politics that have characterized discussions on the proposal.
She explained on the New Day show on TV3 with host Berla Mundi on Thursday February 3 that the E-levy is an innovative way of widening the tax net to ensure that everybody contributes his or her quota towards national development.
Ama Daaku was contributing to a discussion on the the determination by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to generate domestic revenue for national development.
Mr Akufo-Addo had said that his administration is determined to raise the needed revenue, domestically, to embark on development projects.
The President noted that efforts of his administration to raise revenue are being resisted by the opposition party but he is still determined.
President Akufo-Addo said these at the Jubilee House when addressing traditional leaders from Dzodze in the Volta region on Tuesday, 1st February 2022.
He said “Revenues during 2020/2021 went down considerably because of the slowing down of the economic activities that came from the COVID-19. At the same time, government, in order to keep the country going, did incur some expenditures on the free water, the free electricity.
“These were the unavoidable expenses that government had to make.”
He added “These are the efforts that we are now making which are being resisted by the opposition but we will try and close the gap. That is the reason it has become necessary for us to use these measures like this famous tax which has caused so much unnecessary, in my view disputation; nevertheless, we would continue.”
He stressed “I am determined to persevere to make sure we find the means to address some of these issues.
“These are the efforts that we are now making which have been being resisted by the opposition as we try and close the gap. It is necessary for us to do so because that is the only way which some of these matters can be addressed.
“We ourselves have to find the money for our development and that is the reason why it has become necessary for us to use these measures like this famous tax which has caused so much unnecessary, in my view, disputation; nevertheless, we would continue.”
Sharing her thoughts on this, Ama Daaku said “”I just think the past three weeks or one month we have been on this E-levy, we have been on at the politics of it, so the real substances of it for me, I believe is getting lost.
“Which is, do we need taxes? Do we even need to tax our people? That is the first question we should be asking. If we do, how many taxes do we have in the system now ? What are they supposed to ? How many taxes have been abolished ? How many taxes have been re-introduced? What is the E-levy supposed to do? Let us look at those issues straight forward and with it.
“So the President in looking forward in yesterday’s statement he he made, I can see him as saying lets us get going.”
She added “The reason why we need to the E-levy for now is because we have thousands and millions of cedis of trade, of businesses going on online that are not being taxed. The point is, government has to find new ways of raising the revenues , new ways of widening the tax net so that every single Ghanaian does their quota.”
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