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Tag: John Kumah

  • Government withdraws Tax Exemptions Bill from Parliament

    The government has withdrawn the Tax Exemptions Bill 2021 laid in Parliament in November last year, according to the Ghana News Agency.

    Although the Bill has been withdrawn, Deputy Finance Minister, John Kumah, will in the coming days re-lay it before the House for approval.

    The Tax Exemptions Bill was announced by the government in the 2017 Budget Statement and Economic Policy. 

    Attempts to have it approved in 2020 were unsuccessful as the 7th Parliament got dissolved before the approval processes were concluded.

    On November 16, 2021, the Tax Exemption Bill 2021 was laid in Parliament by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, on behalf of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.

    Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Amoako Asiamah, then referred the bill to the Finance Committee for consideration and report.

    The Bill is to regulate government approval of tax exemption for companies and related matters.

    To encourage private investment, a number of tax exemptions are provided to foreign and national companies by the government after the companies first apply to the Finance Ministry.

    But it is reported that the state loses huge amounts of money doing so.

    The Deputy Finance Minister revealed that in 2011, tax exemption cost the country about US$ 2.4 billion, 6.13 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    “Failure to take action on exemptions is therefore costing the nation dearly and prompting the resort to tax hikes to plug revenue shortfalls,” he said.

    GNA reports that the International Monetary Fund indicated that Ghana,  in 2013, lost 5.2 percent of its GDP to tax expenditures amounting to USD$ 2.5 billion.

    The bill when approved is expected to address these challenges being faced by the country.

    Meanwhile, a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, Prof Godfred Bokpin, has urged the government to speed up the passage of the tax exemptions bill.

    “The biggest threat to our revenue mobilisation is tax exemption. In less than 15 years… Ghana has given away about half of its revenue base through exemptions; for me, it is the biggest leak in our economic structures,” he was quoted by asaaseradio.com.

    Source: The Independent Ghana

  • We currently don’t have the numbers to pass E-Levy – John Kumah

    Deputy Finance Minister, John Ampontuah Kumah has stated that government will need the support of the minority caucus in parliament to implement the E-Levy.

    According to him, the majority caucus in parliament does not currently have the numbers to pass the E-Levy bill.

    “The minority is not in support of the E-Levy, and given the current structure of parliament, if we do not get both sides to agree, it would be difficult to pass the E-Levy bill.

    “We have not been able to raise the members to pass the bill. So, we are currently negotiating. As we speak, the Council of State has entered the discussion and has engaged the minority. We urge religious leaders, all Ghanaians and everyone concerned about the finances of the country to put politics aside for the sake of the country,” he said in Twi during an interview with Neat FM, monitored by GhanaWeb.

    “If we get the support of everybody, we will present it for parliament to pass it. The result of the 2020 election shows that the people of Ghana want us to work together,” he added.

    “If you have equal members and one side is not in agreement, then you must have the patience to engage more till we are all on the same page,” he said.

    John Kumah, who is also the Member of Parliament for Ejisu, clarified that the government could pay public servants even if it cannot implement the E-Levy, contrary to claims by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin.

    He, however, noted that the levy is needed for other important government expenditures, including the construction of infrastructural projects and the government’s job creation initiatives.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

  • Appointments Committee vets John Kumah, Hassan Tampuli, others today

    Today, Wednesday, June 9, 2021, the Appointments Committee of Parliament will host Deputy Minister-designate for Interior, Naana Eyiah Quansah; Deputy Minister-designate for Transport, Hassan Tampuli; Deputy Minister-designate for Finance, Dr. John Kumah; and Deputy Minister-designate for Trade and Industry, Michael Okyere Baafi, for vetting.

    All four nominees are expected to be questioned today by the members of the Committee on issues related to their work and how they will execute their mandates in their respective designations.

    It is expected that by June 15, 2021, all nominees for deputy ministerial roles would have been vetted.

    So far, close to 20 of the 40 nominees have been vetted.

    In the meantime, the Appointments Committee of Parliament has finally given the go-ahead for Andrew Egyapa Mercer to be approved as a Deputy Minister for Energy, after initially withholding it due to the unconvincing nature of some answers he provided during his vetting.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

  • Give MPs developmental role and not only lawmaking NPP MP-elect

    Member of Parliament (MP)-elect for the Ejisu Constituency in the Ashanti Region Lawyer John Kumah has suggested an amendment of the law to include developmental roles in the duties of Members of Parliament (MPs) in the various constituencies across the country.

    “We have the capacity to build this country without aid; we can do it… we have to put our mind into it, we can do it. This is why I have suggested that we have to redefine the role of the MP and make it a development focus project”. Lawyer John Kumah said this in an interview with Kumasi-based Nhyira FM monitored by MyNewsGH.com.

    Members of Parliament are not responsible for developing their constituencies; however, most of them when contesting for the position tend to make huge promises to their constituents.

    In most occasions, these members of Parliament fail to fulfil their promise incurring the wrath of constituents.

    But speaking to Nhyira FM, Mr. John Kumah noted that giving MPs the opportunity to go into development will go a long way to make their constituencies better.

    According to him, lawmakers must also focus on some key sectors in their constituencies which can be explored, to make them useful, create jobs and make money out of them for the development of the country.

    He insisted that, the agriculture sector alone has greater prospects for development if Members of Parliament engage themselves in the sector.

    Source: My News GH