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General news for Sunday, March 14, 2021
Source: 3 News
2021-03-14
MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has told the government not to tax the people of this country in this difficult period of the coronavirus pandemic.
His comment comes after the government proposes in the 2021 budget statement the introduction of a Covid-19 health tax of a one percentage point increase in the national health insurance tax and a one percentage point increase in the Fixed VAT rate to support COVID-19 related expenses.
“To provide the resources necessary to address these challenges and fund these activities, the government is proposing the introduction of a Covid-19 Health Levy with a one percentage point increase in the National Health Insurance Levy and a one percentage point increase in the fixed rate of VAT. to support expenses related to Covid-19, ”the budget statement presented by Government Business leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu said on Friday, March 12.
But in a tweet, Ablakwa said: “Don’t squeeze extra taxes out of the people in these tough times just to fund government propaganda as a flagship program.”
Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for Sekondi Andrew Egyapa Mercer has said that the new taxes introduced in the 2020 budget1 are aimed at solving specific problems.
He said the problems facing the country at the moment do not allow the government to borrow introduced taxes to address specific challenges.
His comments come after Tamale North lawmaker Alhasan Suhuyini said that the 2021 budget statement presented by the leader of the government company Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu will worsen the situation for businesses in the country.
He said that at a time when Ghanaians and businesses are grappling with the negative impact of the coronavirus, the government has introduced taxes to, in their view, make their plight worse.
“The government introduced heavy taxes to some companies that were already overburdened by COVID,” he said in Key Points on TV3 on Saturday, March 13.
He added “There is the sanitation tax that we are going to deal with. We also have to pay the Covid fee.
How much more can you be insensitive? As a people, we have already paid Covid for lost loved ones and businesses that have been lost. “
But Mercer said on the same show that “the taxes introduced are essentially aimed at solving specific problems,” he said.
