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The Member of Parliament for Tano North, Dr. Gideon Boako, has voiced apprehensions about the possibility of new taxes being introduced by a John Dramani Mahama-led government to offset revenue losses from the proposed removal of the e-levy and betting tax.
Dr. Boako’s concerns follow remarks by Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Finance Minister-Designate, who suggested that the Mahama administration would eliminate these taxes in its first budget while addressing the revenue shortfall through expenditure cuts.
In an interview with Citi News, Dr. Boako questioned whether such fiscal measures would align with Ghana’s commitments under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program. He warned that introducing new taxes to compensate for the lost revenue could undermine public trust and disrupt the nation’s financial obligations.
“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,” Dr. Boako stated.
He further cautioned that unless the government finds alternative ways to sustain revenue, the only viable option to maintain the debt service-to-revenue ratio outlined in the IMF program might be to impose new taxes.
“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 added.
Dr. Boako’s comments highlight the complexities of balancing fiscal reforms with international financial commitments and the potential impact of such decisions on the Ghanaian economy.
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