Member of Parliament (MP) for Bia East, Richard Acheampong has indicated that the Minority rejected the $350 million tax exemption request for 42 companies under the One District One Factory (1D1F) because there is something shady about it.
According to the MP who is also a member of the Finance Committee in Parliament, tax exemption cannot be given to a company when its contribution to national growth is not clear.
“Some companies have been established in this country, and for 3-5 years, how many taxes have they paid to the government? How many people have they employed? What is their impact on the economy? So ask yourself, on what basis are you looking to give off this tax exemption?
“These are things the Committee looks at. We investigate the company’s contribution to Ghana’s national growth, employment creation, and tax payments. Then you can decide that indeed this company can help this country, so such an exemption is good,” Richard Acheampong explained as quoted on by 3News.
The Bia East MP further questioned the government on why it did not state from the start that the One District One Factory programme would be facilitated through tax waiving.
He said the suspicion is that government has some hidden interest in the $350 million tax exemption request.
“Why didn’t they state from the start that 1D1F will be facilitated through tax waiving? This is shady; it shows that something is happening in the background that we do not know about. They have a special interest in this. Let’s make sure there is value for money,” Richard Acheampong noted.
Source: modernghana.com