Minority Investigating Tax Hikes

The Minority Leader, Mr Alban Bagbin on Wednesday said the ranking member for finance was investigating the 150 per cent increase in new income tax for certain categories of transport operators.

"Parliament was taken aback by the announcement (by the Internal Revenue Service)," he said, at a forum organised by the Political Science Students Association (POSSA).

Bagbin said the House would not renegade on its oversight role over the Executive and would ensure that all taxes introduced passed through Parliament. The students had questioned the increase and asked whether parliamentary approval was sought before the announcement was made.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced that weekly income tax rates for five categories of vehicles in the transport sector would go up by 150 per cent with effect from March 1, 2002.

Mrs Janet Opoku-Acheampong, IRS Commissioner, said this was to enable the Service meet its target of 28 billion cedis compared with four billion cedis realised from the transport sector in the recent past when there was no target.

She said the new rates were arrived at with the transport unions made up of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union, Progressive Transport Owners' Association, Greater Accra Co-operative Union and other similar organisations.

Mrs Opoku-Acheampong said the increases were not expected to affect transport fares since they were to be borne by transport owners as tax on their profits. Papa Owusu-Ankomah, the Majority Leader, could not attend the forum.