Associate Professor of Finance at Andrews University, Williams Kwasi Peprah says it is possible to eliminate taxes on betting and electronic transaction levies without incurring economic problems.
According to him, it is only feasible if the political parties prudently manage state resources devoid of waste.
His comments come on the back of flagbearer of the both the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) pledge to scrap off these taxes when given the political mandate.
After such assurance, many stakeholders have asked whether these would impact the economy considering that the country was currently signed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
Speaking on JoyFM’s Midday News on August 26, Professor Peprah said the current amount generated in revenues from these taxes was relatively insignificant hence scrapping it would have no effect on the economy.
“From what I have gathered just looking at the internal audit agency report, this is something that both parties can do.
“From 2017 till date, infractions detected by the internal agency through their audit report in areas of procurement irregularities over payment, unapproved transactions and payment for contracts not done, it comes to approximately GH₵51 billion.
“So far for the e-levy, the government has collected GH₵810 million, and for the betting tax, the government has collected GH₵15 million so if you look at the amount involved, they are not very significant,” he said.
He explained that although the government had projected GH₵1.2 billion from each of the taxes, it is yet to achieve its target.
As such, the associate professor said “So if both parties are able to focus on eliminating waste as specifically the NDC presidential candidate is saying and reducing and prioritising some payments, it is very easy for them to do away with these two taxes.”
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Source: myjoyonline.com