On the last day of March, 2023, after a successful parliamentary sitting, the parliament of Ghana passed three tax bills. These bills included the Excise Duty Amendment Bill, 2022, the Income Tax Amendment Bill, 2022, and the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, 2022.

According to parliament, the taxes have been implemented to help generate revenue for the government as well as raise the government’s tax GDP from 12 per cent to 18 percent.

The Excise Duty Amendment Bill will impose 20 percent tax on cigarettes and beverages like Wines and Spirits and it intends to gather an amount of GH¢400 million, the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill will also generate GH¢2.2billion and the Income Tax Amendment Bill is expected to raise an amount of GH¢1.2 billion.

Seeking views of some citizens on the newly passed taxes, GhanaWeb on #TrendingGH, visited the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra to speak to some traders.

For some the move is good only if the taxes have been implemented to help generate revenue for the country yet still others were of the opinion that government was imposing too many taxes on the citizens.

“Does the government pay some of the taxes? We are unable to pay the existing ones so why then should they introduce new taxes. Do they even think of the welfare of Ghanaians? We voted them into power so they can help improve the country, not the other way round,” one trader said.

Another noted that “If the new taxes introduced by parliament will develop the country, then I do support the government for such an initiative. Every citizen of Ghana wants the country to improve since the economy is falling apart and I think it’s because of that they passed the taxes. This shows the government is doing its possible best to help revive the economy.”

Hear what all who spoke to GhanaWeb had to say on #TrendingGH:



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