The Member of Parliament (MP) for Asuogyaman Thomas Ampem Nyarko has called on other MPs belonging to the Minority Caucus to reject a proposed 2.5 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) increment by the government in the 2023 budget.
According to him, the 2023 budget statement to be read in Parliament tomorrow comprises numerous tax increments and the introduction of new taxes.
Mr Ampem Nyarko criticised the government for not caring for Ghanaians but instead increasing VAT.
Addressing the media in Parliament today, he said, “the budget that is to be read tomorrow promises to be a budget full of taxes. In fact, we are hearings that this government intends to increase VAT by 2.5 per cent. They intend to increase income taxes, and they intend to remove a lot of exemptions on MoMo, so even merchants are going to be subjected to MoMo taxes.”
He noted that the Minority is not ready to accept any 2.5 per cent VAT increment in the 2023 budget and suggested to the government to cut government expenditure which is the major cause of the deficit in the country.
He continued: “With issues of economic hardship and inflation so high, the Minority Caucus did not expect any tax increment at this moment”.
He lamented how the incumbent government has been insensitive to the plight of Ghanaians in a difficult period.
“Our posture is that we are willing to cooperate with the government in these difficult times because they need help. If we don’t help them, this economy will crash. Government must come clear to ensure that they are going to reduce expenditure drastically. We are all aware of how the government’s expenditure machinery has increased over the years since 2017. What we are saying is that they want to shift some of the expenditures out of government machinery to other sectors, that is not expenditure cut. We must do a real expenditure cut,” he advised.