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Scrapping betting tax won’t affect our economy; we will scrap it – Ato Forson

Headlines Scrapping betting tax won’t affect our economy; we will scrap it – Ato Forson
MON, 13 JAN 2025

Finance Minister-designate, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has stressed that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) will not backtrack on its promise to abolish the tax on betting winnings.

Facing the Appointment Committee of Parliament for vetting on Monday, January 13, Dr. Ato Forson stated that what the betting taxing is raking in for the state is insignificant.

He argued that the new government is convinced that once scrapped, the economy of the country won’t be affected in any way.

He explained that although the NDC government will scrap all nuisance taxes it promised to scrap, it does not mean the administration does not care about revenue generation.

“We have obviously announced that we are going to scrap some taxes, we’ll stick to just that. But it doesn’t mean we don’t care about the revenue, we care about the revenue and we’ll have to do more on the revenue. But it doesn’t necessarily mean we should increase taxes.

“Some of the taxes are not bringing in any revenue that you should [increase]. For example, the betting tax is bringing in less than GHC50 million a year. It’s a nuisance tax and scrapping GHC50 million will not mean anything in a way that will affect the economy,” Dr. Ato Forson said.

The NDC administration is expected to scrap not just the tax on bet winnings but the Electronic Transaction Levy as well.

It will be in fulfilment of a campaign promise made in the run-up to the 2024 General Election.

Eric Nana Yaw Kwafo
Eric Nana Yaw Kwafo

News JournalistPage: eric-nana-yaw-kwafo

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