IEA lauds government over passage of exemption bill

Dr John Kwakye, the director of research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), has lauded the government for passing the tax exemption bill into law.

“I am happy to hear that the tax exemption bill has now been passed. This is something that we have been pushing for,” he said on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (26 July).

“Recently the minister himself announced that we lose as much as GHC27 billion through tax exemptions, this is about US$3.3 billion, so I hope the bill will attempt to streamline the exemptions and we will make some savings there,” he told host Kwaku Nhyira-Addo.

Parliament passes tax exemptions bill into law
Parliament last week passed the tax exemptions bill, 2022 to provide for a tax exemption regime in the country.

The bill, which would set clear eligibility criteria for tax exemptions, would also provide for the monitoring, evaluation and enforcement of exemptions.

Further, the bill would explore delivering a regulatory regime for monitoring tax exemptions to ensure that exemptions granted were used for the intended purposes, as well as control the abuse of the existing exemption regime.

It would strengthen the monitoring role of the Ministry of Finance and Parliament on the management of exemption when assented to by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance, on Tuesday, 19 July 2022, confirmed to Parliament, that the country lost about GHC 27 billion to tax exemptions granted to some businesses between 2008 and 2020.

Source: Fred Dzakpata