‘Hypocritical’ Minority caucus agreed to new tax bills – Majority

The Majority in Parliament has hit out at the Minority caucus in Parliament describing their opposition to new tax bills as hypocritical.

According to the First Deputy Majority Chief Whip, Habib Iddrisu, the Minority group agreed to the new taxes during committee meetings before the sudden change of mind.

The majority of Ghanaians had called on Parliament to reject the bills, but Parliament managed to get all their members in the House to pass the bills on Friday.

The Minority in Parliament has rejected criticisms that they failed to mount a spirited fight to gather opposition for the rejection of the bills.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday, Habib Iddrisu said the position of the Minority is not founded on principle.

“What our colleagues on the Minority side exhibited on Friday is hypocrisy to the highest order. Because, if you look at the report that came from the Finance Committee, it was agreed. At the committee level, it was agreed upon in consensus.

“We all agreed that the revenue bills must be passed only for them to take a different decision when we resumed to Parliament.”

Parliament on Friday, March 31, passed the Excise Duty Amendment Bill 2022, the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, 2022, the Ghana Revenue Authority Bill 2022 and the Income Tax Amendment Bill 2022.

The financial bills seek to raise about 4 billion Ghana Cedis annually as part of domestic revenue mobilisation.

The bills are also crucial to aid the government’s quest to facilitate the Board Approval for the $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme staff-level agreement.

The Minority in Parliament earlier communicated its opposition to the bills, but the bills were passed despite an MP from the majority suffering a near-fatal accident on his way to the House.