I Can’t Cancel Betting Tax, E-Levy – John Mahama Beats Retreat

In a dramatic turn of events, President-elect, John Dramani Mahama is beating a retreat in his campaign promise to scrap some taxes he described as obnoxious.

Speaking at a recent event, Mahama said he cannot just remove E-levy, betting, and COVID-19 taxes as he promised because they are part of the IMF conditionalities. Rather, he indicated that, he would “rationalise” those taxes.

Retreat
The President-elect is now saying that, it will be difficult for him to scrap the taxes. “They (NPP) have signed an agreement with the IMF and so you cannot come and dismantle those taxes immediately, but we will rationalize them, we will make sure that we get revenue from other places,” he stated.

Background
Speaking at the launch of the NDC manifesto on Saturday August 24, 2024 in Winneba, Mahama disclosed plans aimed at stabilizing the cedi against the dollar and creating more job opportunities.
“First is resetting the economy for prosperity. In the first 120 days in office, we will hold a national economic dialogue to draw up a four-year fiscal consolidation plan. We would abolish among others the obnoxious e-levy, the COVID levy and the 10% levy on bets winning.”