The Spare Parts Dealers Association of Ghana has called on the government not to introduce new taxes in the impending 2022 budget.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is expected to give present the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of government on Wednesday, November 17, 2021.

Speaking to Citi News ahead of the budget reading, the Co-chair of the Spare Parts Dealers Association of Ghana, Clement Boateng, said the government should also look at reducing the number of tax exemptions granted to individuals and corporate entities.

“Everybody is crying in this country, therefore we are not expecting any new taxes. During the mid-year budget review, there were some forms of taxes introduced, so we do not want new ones to be added in this 2022 budget. We are also not expecting the huge tax exemptions being granted to companies that are even in the position to pay those taxes.”

“In that direction, the government loses a lot of money in that aspect. The Tax exemption Bill has been lying in Parliament since 2019, and we don’t know why Parliament doesn’t want to pass it. So we want the Minister to also say something about it”, he said.

Clement Boateng also wants the government to take a second look at the country’s procurement laws.

“Another thing we want to hear has to do with the way our procurement laws have been enacted. The government’s use of that law does not help those of us in the informal sector. All procurement laws are given to people in large-scale businesses, thereby depriving those of us in the Small to Medium scale businesses. We think that it is about time the government changes things so that we can also benefit.”

Some new taxes were introduced in the 2021 fiscal year, while some already existing ones were adjusted upwards as part of plans towards the economic recovery of the country.

The government, as part of its efforts to revive the economy, introduced the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy Act, 2021, Financial Sector Recovery Levy Act, 2021 among others.

Some Civil Society Organisations raised concerns about some of these taxes, arguing that they could stifle growth as businesses continue to grapple with the impact of the pandemic.
2022 budget: Replace ‘nuisance’ taxes with productive levies – Prof. Quartey

Ahead of the presentation of the 2022 budget, the Director of the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Professor Peter Quartey, is calling for the scrapping of some nuisance taxes introduced in the previous budget.

Professor Peter Quartey believes some of the taxes introduced did not live up to expectations with respect to revenue mobilization and should be scrapped.

He further advised that if new taxes are to be introduced, they must be substituted with the unproductive ones earlier introduced.

“If new taxes would be introduced, there is the need to evaluate current taxes to find out those that are not performing or what we call nuisance taxes. They should be taken out or replaced with something else. But if you add more, there can be too much stress on the private sector and individuals, and that could lead to tax avoidance and tax evasion.”