Newly introduced taxes will worsen plight of citizens – Mahama

Ex-president, John Dramani Mahama has chastised government for introducing new taxes in the country.

According to him, the taxes “will worsen the plight of the citizenry”.

The government has introduced some new taxes to help it generate additional revenue.

The taxes include the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy Act, 2021 (Act 1068) which imposes a one percent levy on the supply of goods and services made in the country other than exempt goods or services, the Financial Sector Recovery Levy Act, 2021 (Act 1067) which imposes a five per cent levy on the profit before tax of banks and the Energy Sector Levy (Amendment) Act, 2021 (Act 1064) which imposes an Energy Sector Recovery Levy of GH¢20 pesewas per litre of petrol/diesel and 18 pesewas per kg on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and a Sanitation and Pollution Levy of GH¢10 pesewas per litre of petrol and diesel respectively.

Mr. Mahama in a statement on workers’ day urged the government to ensure a stable supply of power and water.

“Incidentally, an increase in existing taxes & introduction of new ones, and which take effect from today, May Day, is leading to steep rises in the prices of fuel, food & every basic item.”

“This will worsen the plight of citizens even further. This is in addition to power outages and shortage of water in many homes, cities and municipalities.”

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has promised to offer better conditions of service to workers if voted into power.

“We in the NDC are proud of our relationship with workers and we do hereby encourage them to stand tall in their unflinching loyalty to the cause of Ghana. The NDC further assures all workers that a future NDC government will commit to a much better handling of the economy and award them their due remuneration in recognition of their sterling role in lifting high the flag of Ghana,” the party said in a statement.

“This is a non-negotiable assurance that we owe to workers in order to maintain their faith in the choice they have made to serve this nation for both the present and future generations.”

—citinewsroom