Here are the taxes Bawumia promised to abolish if elected as President

The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has pledged to abolish the Electronic Transactions Levy (E-Levy) and the recently introduced betting tax.

Speaking at the manifesto launch of the NPP, Dr Bawumia emphasised the need to reconsider the E-Levy, which has faced widespread criticism since its introduction.

The levy, which was implemented to generate revenue for the government by taxing mobile money and other electronic transactions, has been unpopular among the public due to its impact on everyday financial activities.

In addition to the E-Levy, Dr. Bawumia promised to eliminate the betting tax, which has been a point of contention among the youth.

The tax was introduced as part of efforts to regulate and generate revenue from the rapidly growing betting industry in Ghana.

However, it has been met with resistance from young people who see it as a barrier to their participation in the industry.

Dr Bawumia's promise to abolish the E-Levy and betting tax is rooted in his belief that these measures have hurt the economy and the livelihoods of ordinary Ghanaians.

He argued that the taxes have discouraged the use of digital financial services and placed an unfair burden on those who can least afford it.

Bawumia said We will fast-track Ghana’s transformation into Africa's digital hub through strategic policies, incentives, and investments. This includes investing in local talent and tech start-ups while abolishing the E-Levy.

We'll implement broad tax reforms, offering a one-time tax amnesty to all Ghanaians and corporate entities, wiping the slate clean from previous tax obligations. This will give everyone a fresh start in their tax journey.

We will reform the Value Added Tax system by consolidating all levies into a single line item, which will be treated as part of input and output VAT, eliminating the cascading effect of the current regime.

We'll also reduce the Withholding Tax for small-scale gold exports to 1% to curb smuggling, and abolish the Betting Tax.

However, Bawumia's announcement has been met with mixed reactions.

While many Ghanaians have welcomed the promise of relief from the E-Levy and betting tax, others have raised concerns about how the government plans to offset the potential loss of revenue from these taxes.

Earlier, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, affirmed that his government would abolish the 10 per cent betting tax, the COVID-19 levy and the E-levy when elected as President.

He said the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government's introduction of those taxes was not in the interest of local businesses, taxpayers and, especially, young people who had resorted to betting to survive due to unemployment.

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