Let us freeze further adjustment in taxes
It is taxes that build nations all over the world, so taxes are very essential for any meaningful development to take place. However, those taxes must not overburden the people.
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The President, John Dramani Mahama, said last Tuesday that he would not take any decision that would jeopardise the lives of Ghanaians, which is very reassuring.
Nonetheless, several sections of the public are crying that the effects of so many taxes on them is becoming overbearing. Some very recent pointers are the introduction of a one per cent tax on investments that took effect on January 1, this year, and for which the cry of the people has caused the government to begin the process to suspend the introduction of that tax.
Meanwhile, as people await news of the final suspension of the investment tax, banks and other financial institutions are deducting the one per cent tax because it is now in our statute books.
Another recent burdensome tax on the people is the automatic adjustment formula that has been introduced on petroleum products, and which only seems to work best when there is upward adjustment.
Although Trades Union Congress (TUC) and other members of organised labour and others such as the Ghana Employers Association (GEA), the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and the National Peace Council prayed the regulatory authorities to stay the increases in prices, they were still carried out.
Increases in electricity and water tariffs to 59.2 per cent and 67.2 per cent respectively announced by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) took effect on December 14, 2015, and the 25 per cent increase in fuel prices took effect on January 4, 2016.
Naturally, any people anywhere who are consistently and at short intervals burdened with such increases in the prices of basic utilities such as water, electricity and fuel would suffer undue hardships, more so when salary levels have remained virtually stable over the past years.
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These are not the only bills that the average Ghanaian worker has to contend with each month. There are also high rents that are charged annually, in two and three years intervals, although our rent laws do not permit that. Yet they are carried out with impunity by landlords and landladies, as well as other property owners, because the country is still plagued with a high housing deficit and there are no many options.
Ghanaians love to communicate and they have to pay dearly literally for it through the communication tax and there are hordes of other expenses that have become part of our very existence.
We, therefore, urge the President to truly show that he is a father of the nation, by ensuring that any other form of price increases is stayed this year to ensure that the people are not unduly overburdened, and also to avoid any civil strife. At least we could put on hold any further adjustment in utility tariffs and freeze the operation of the automatic adjustment formula for fuel prices at least for this year.
The Daily Graphic rather prescribes a plugging of the many loopholes in the collection of all the taxes that are in force and ensuring vigilant monitoring of the institutions that are mandated by law to collect such taxes and revenue for the state. Mr President, let’s have a breather.