We’ll unravel GH¢11billion taxes hidden in 2024 budget – Ricketts-Hagan

Member of Parliament (MP) for Cape Coast South, George Ricketts-Hagan, says the Minority caucus in Parliament will unravel the alleged GH¢11 billion taxes hidden in the government’s 2024 budget.

Presenting the government’s 2024 budget in Parliament on Wednesday, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, announced eight tax reliefs the government intends to implement from next year.

These include extending the zero rate of VAT on locally manufactured African prints for two (2) more years; waiving import duties on the import of electric vehicles for public transportation for a period of 8 years; waiving import duties on semi-knocked down and completely knocked down electric vehicles imported by registered EV assembly companies in Ghana for a period of 8 years, and extending the zero rate of VAT on locally assembled vehicles for 2 more years.

The others were zero rate VAT on locally produced sanitary pads; granting import duty waivers for raw materials for the local manufacture of sanitary pads; granting exemptions on the importation of agricultural machinery equipment and inputs and medical consumables, raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry, as well as a VAT flat rate of 5 percent to replace the 15 percent standard VAT rate on all commercial properties, which will be introduced to simplify administration.

However, Mr. Ricketts-Hagan, in an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, said, “We know that there’s GH¢11 billion in taxes [in the budget], but it is hidden, so we will unravel it… In a couple of days, we will unwrap it and show where they have been hidden.”

“…They have been disguised, and that was the whole idea… So we have to open it up.”

However, the Deputy Trades Minister, Dr. Stephen Amoah, refuted such claims and urged the Cape Coast South MP and the Minority to focus on things such as the tax reliefs intended by the government to be implemented “rather than look for [non-existent] areas to criticize.”

-citinewsroom