Government should implement new tax rates passed by Parliament

The Ghana Tax Justice Coalition has appealed to President John Evans Atta-Mills and Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Dufuor to demonstrate their “political will and commitment” to implement proposals submitted to Parliament for approval.

“We wish to encourage all Ghanaians, especially workers' leaders to study the budgets critically and always ensure that what has been approved by Parliament is implemented.

“In particular, tax concessions and reviewed tax rates that are aimed at alleviating the suffering of the ordinary worker should not be allowed to remain unimplemented.

Politicians should not continue to deceive the electorate by making promises that they do not intend to fulfill. The Budget is an important policy tool that should not be toyed with. If government does not intend to implement a policy, then it should not include it in the budget proposals.”

The appeal was made in a statement issued by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) on behalf of the Coalition by Mr Vitus A. Azeem, Executive Director of GII, in Accra.

The Ghana Tax Justice Coalition is a group of civil society organizations and individuals that advocate for a transparent and fairer tax system in the country. It is part of the Global Tax Justice Network and Tax Justice Network - Africa.

Some of the pioneers of the Coalition are Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) and Christian Aid – Ghana.

The Coalition, called on both the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and Parliament to avoid doing the same thing with the new tax rates that were contained in the 2012 Annual Budget that had been approved by Parliament.