Ghanaian actress Lydia Forson has expressed concern over the government’s decision to raise taxes at a time when many are suffering from poverty due to high inflation.
According to Lydia, times are hard, and several Ghanaians are battling depression due to the bad economy coupled with the high cost of living.
“When you think about how hard things are in this country, it can easily send you into depression. In fact I’m almost certain a majority of us are battling depression; we just force ourselves through it each day. Worse is that we’re being led by people who don’t care,” she tweeted on November 28.
In a separate post that also highlighted the plight of Ghanaians, the actress who has been vocal about issues that affect citizens listed a number of things that continue to drain the pocket of many.
“A lot of people are unemployed, those who aren’t, barely make enough to survive each month. Between transportation, accommodation and food, you barely have enough for anything else. But your leaders believe, let’s TAX them some more,” she said.
Mr Ken Ofori- Atta, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, as part of the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy he presented to Parliament on Thursday, November, 24 proposed a 2.5 per cent increase in the Value Added Tax (VAT) to support roads and digitisation agenda of government.
He said the Government would “Review the E-levy Act and specifically reduce the headline rate from 1.5 per cent to 1 per cent of the transaction value as well as the removal of the daily threshold.”
The 2018 Mid-Year budget amended the VAT rate from 15% to 12.5% and delinked the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) and Ghana Education Trust Fund Levy (GETFund Levy) from VAT.
The Electronic Transfer Levy Act, 2022 (Act 1075), on the other hand, imposes a levy of 1.5% on electronic transfers.
