The President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has lamented the passing of government’s three new taxes.
Joseph Obeng speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, described the new revenue measures as counterproductive explaining that “it is even against the government’s own quest of industrialisation.”
His comment comes after Parliament on April 1 passed three new revenue measures in government’s bid to generate revenue of about GH¢4 billion annually.
The revenue measures namely the Income Tax Amendment Bill, The Excise Duty Amendment Bill, and the Growth and Sustainability Amendment Bill are to enable government complete processes to secure a $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
But the GUTA President says that the taxes will burden and collapse businesses in the country.
According to him, the Growth and Sustainability Amendment Bill will make businesses pay a multiplicity of taxes.
This, he described as an unacceptable practice.
He explained that “if the communication industries, the banking, shipping lines, etc are going to pay 5% on their gross it means that they are going to treat it as an expenditure and pass it on to businesses that use their services.”
In a related development, the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) is warning businesses will be forced to flee the country due to the unbearable tax environment.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Monday, Chief Executive of GNCCI, Mark Badu-Aboagye said businesses will settle in countries that have a conducive environment for their businesses to thrive.
He stated that the passage of the taxes will result in the collapse of businesses and downsizing in some cases.
“Businesses that will not be able to survive here [Ghana] will relocate to other countries and we have seen some of them relocating.
“Some of them are closing down and going to the neighbouring countries because the business environment is conducive. You are losing taxes on those people that you want to get revenue from,” he pointed out.