Akufo-Addo questioned parliament over delay in passing $335 million tax exemptions – Ibrahim Ahmed

Deputy Minority Chief Whip Ibrahim Ahmed has revealed that President Akufo-Addo expressed concerns about Parliament’s tardiness in passing the $335 million in tax exemptions for certain enterprises since 2021.

He claims that during a meeting held behind closed doors to discuss possible solutions, the President questioned the Minority’s leadership in Parliament on their protest against the tax exemptions.

According to the MP for Banda Constituency, the NDC leadership told President Akufo-Addo that their resistance to the tax exemptions is not intended to purposefully harm the nation, but rather to make sure that adequate investigation is done before the waivers are granted. This, he stated on JoyNews’ PM Express.

“When they (Finance Ministry) brought it as a package of $459 million, upon further interrogation and due diligence by Parliament, we’ve been able to bring it down by $120 million,” he indicated.

According to Mr. Ahmed, some of the companies were questioned by the Finance Committee led by Kwaku Kwarteng.“Most of the companies had understated their stated capital. When you understate your capital, it has an impact on the tax exemptions that you’re seeking.”

He stated that as a result, these businesses were requested to edit and reevaluate their documents before to presenting them to the committee. The Deputy Minority Chief Whip believes that the Finance Committee’s efforts can prevent the nation from waiving taxes where it shouldn’t.

“So, meaning that if care is taken and we are able to press further, we will be able to sanitise them and scrutinise them, and get those who genuinely deserve to be given tax waivers, and those who don’t deserve to be given tax waivers,” he noted.

In 2021, the One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative of the government was launched, and the Ministry of Finance started the process of obtaining tax exemptions for forty-two firms.

The Tax Exemptions Act, 2022 (Act 1083) was introduced to Parliament in 2022 by Ken Ofori-Atta, the former Minister of Finance.

Mr. Ahmed informed Evans Mensah that the $449 million waiver was reduced to roughly $335 million as a result of Parliament’s due investigation.

Sentuo Oil Refinery Limited stands out among the businesses expecting these exemptions, having requested the largest sum of $164,633,012.00.

The Speaker has given the Finance Committee the responsibility of reviewing the documents once more while Parliament is still in session and has not yet passed the tax exemptions.

Mr. Ahmed responded that the Head of State acknowledged the wisdom of their position when questioned about the President’s response to it.

“He said the Finance Committee should go further and scrutinise and see that those companies which don’t deserve and that is exactly what the Speaker also asked Parliament to go and do. So we need to go and do further work on it,” he said.